The costs of providing care informally at home to frail elderly persons can be substantial, especially if caregivers are forced to interrupt their careers or retire early when they provide care. This brief summarizes findings from a recent Urban Institute study of the characteristics of persons in their fifties and early sixties who provide care to their elderly parents and the trade-offs that families face when they divide their time between the provision of informal care and paid work. The results suggest that devoting time to the care of elderly parents may be compatible with full-time paid employment at midlife.