ABSTRACT
Research on caregiving has amply demonstrated the importance of spouses and children in providing support to elderly family members. This chapter deals with the role of siblings in the support networks of the never-married and/or the childless elderly. Theorists of reciprocity have argued that elders are vulnerable when they have no obvious resources with which to hold their own in an exchange relationship. The chapter shows that delayed reciprocity is a powerful explanation of the special ties among siblings or between older people and other distant relatives. One of the reasons behind delayed designation of the heir was the impact on the non-heirs, that is, non-successors had to disperse which meant the end of the family as the parents knew it. The chapter describes instances of elderly women who had never married which clearly demonstrate the relationship between caretaking and subsequent involvement of siblings in support networks.
