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Mommy takes the lead over daddySurvey shows adult kids would rather take elderly mom in to their homeJoshua Wolpe, DDN Staff WriterTuesday, May 5, 2009 | |
With the release of the latest scorecard tracking the timeless battle of mom vs. dad, mom has inflicted a devastating blow and is poised to cruise into Mother’s Day with her commanding lead in tact.
According to a national study conducted by Zoomerang.com, 70 percent of adult children would choose their mom over their dad to move in with them if their elderly parents could no longer live on their own.
The independent online survey, commissioned by Senior Helpers, a company that connects professional caregivers with seniors who wish to live at home as opposed to an assisted living facility, polled 300 people, evenly divided between men and women, between the ages of 25-64.
“These findings are proof that even in tough economic times, people will do whatever is needed to take care of their aging moms,” said Peter Ross, CEO and founder of Senior Helpers. “When people can’t move mom in, they want her in her own home, getting proper care. In-home care for seniors takes the guilt away from adult children. They can focus on their own families and jobs knowing mom is well cared for.”
Disrupting lives
It can be challenging to face the reality of parents not being capable of living independently anymore. Thirty percent of those surveyed did not want mom moving in at all. The main reasons cited were that mom would disrupt their lives, they did not have enough room, or they could not provide adequate care.
But do not fret mom, that 30 percent is a small minority.
Dad is not completely forgotten in the survey’s findings, he gets some encouraging news that he won’t get left out in the cold. Eighty percent said they would pay out of their own pocket for their mom or dad’s care.
“People will cut many things from their discretionary income such as entertainment or eating out,” adds Ross. “But this survey shows people will not scrimp when it comes to taking care of their mothers or their fathers.”
Anna Marie Jarvis, who was born in West Virginia and lived from 1864-1948, is recognized as the founder of the Mother’s Day holiday in the U.S. Jarvis reportedly held a memorial to her mother a couple years after her mother’s death on May 12, 1907.
Jarvis made it her mission to make Mother’s Day a nationally recognized holiday, and was successful in 1914.
However, Jarvis despised how commercialized the holiday became and actually campaigned against it.
“I wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit,” she famously said before going on to state her opinion on printed greeting cards. “A printed card means nothing except you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world.”
Don’t forget to get those Mother’s Day cards in the mail as soon as possible this week with Sunday looming. But remember not to make Anna Jarvis mad – write them yourself.
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