This brief examines caregiving activities by adults age 55 and older using data from the 2002 Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Nearly 40 percent of people 55 and older and about 50 percent of people 55 to 64 spent time caring for family members in 2002. The average caregiver contributed 580 hours of care to grandchildren, parents, in-laws, and spouses. While men and women were equally likely to give care, women devoted more hours to their families, mostly in grandchild care. The authors conclude with a discussion of the burdens of caregiving and some initiatives intended to ease them. [View the corresponding press release]