New Books In Law

The U.S. population is aging and we often rely on our family to care for us during our twilight years. But, families today can be quite complex, with divorce, step-families, and cohabitation changing the roles that family members are used to playing. In their new book, Homeward Bound: Modern Families, Elder Care, and Loss (Oxford University Press, 2017), Amy Ziettlow and Naomi Cahn interview families caring for a parent at the end of life and write about how these new norms and obligations are navigated in modern families. The book addresses many issues that become apparent at the end of life: family roles, financial as well as time costs, in addition to the planning (or lack thereof) for decisions that need to be made at the end of life for the parent. After the parent passes away, roles, once again, must be negotiated in families in addition to negotiations around wealth transfers and mourning. This book would be a good addition to an upper level Sociology course on families or death and dying as the storie