Caring for grandchildren and intergenerational support in rural China: a gendered extended family perspective

Expectations Regarding Reciprocity of Flows of Intergenerational Support in China: Does Gender or Birth Order Matter?

This study investigates the flows of downward intergenerational transfer to adult children of different gender and birth order, and their influence on parental expectations towards old-age care and financial support, using data from the 2015-2016 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Based on the analytic sample of 1218 parents and 3237 adult children, we found that in multi-child families, sons are more likely to be expected by their parents as future caregivers if both they and their siblings received parental housing support, while it is the case for daughters when only they themselves received parental housing support. Parents' downward housing support shows a stronger effect on care expectations than on expectations of future financial support. This study contributes to our understanding of intergenerational transfer norms and expectations from parents' perspective and has important implications for old-age care policies in contemporary China.

Crowding in or Out？National Public Pension, Inter-Generational Contract, and Family Support to Empty-Nest Older Parents in Rural China

Evidence to date has been inconclusive on the effects of public pension on family support to older adults, and the underlying mechanism behind such effects remains unclear. This study examines the effects of the New Rural Social Pension Scheme on family support to empty-nest older parents in rural China, where family care is traditionally favored for older adults. Using data from the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey, the findings reveal that pension receipt promotes bidirectional financial transfers and intimate relationships between generations, thus increasing (or crowding in) children's financial and care support to their empty-nest parents. On the other hand, receiving pensions may discourage parental care support to children and partially decrease (or crowd out) children's financial and care support. This crowding-out effect, however, is limited and thus insufficient for counteracting the crowding-in effects from other pathways. Overall, these findings indicate that national welfare, such as pensions, can encourage family support through inter-generational contracts and intimacy, strengthening familial bonds and facilitating mutual assistance within families. For policy implications, government should prioritize improving benefit levels of public pensions to harness the caregiving potential of families and providing essential services that assist families in addressing care burdens.

The impact of retirement on body mass index in China: An empirical study based on regression discontinuity design

An aging population is an important trend of social development, and it will be China's basic national condition for a long time. However, the pressure on domestic pension payments and economic operations will increase daily. The delayed retirement policy is gradually implemented as a critical initiative to improve capital and labor force allocation. The impact of retirement on residents' Body Mass Index (BMI) and weight has become a focus issue. This paper investigates the mechanism of the impact of retirement on residents' BMI using microdata from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) 2018, combined with a fuzzy regression discontinuity design to measure the potential health impact of China's current retirement policy on residents. The study finds that: (1) Retirement has a significant negative effect on BMI for women, with retirement leading to a significantly increased risk of deviation from normal BMI levels and significantly increasing the weight of retired women. However, retirement does not have a significant effect on men. (2) Retirement policies affect residents' BMI to different degrees depending on their family size, with the negative effect on women being more pronounced in smaller family sizes. (3) Female residents who retire to help their children with intergenerational care are more likely to maintain normal BMI levels, significantly positively affecting their potential health. (4) Retirement negatively affects BMI through channels such as significantly reducing exercise frequency among female residents. The study demonstrates that retirement policy impacts the BMI and weight of female residents, so the formulation and implementation of delayed retirement policy should be flexible, and family factors such as family sizes and intergenerational care should be considered appropriately.

How is caring for grandchildren associated with grandparents' health: the mediating effect of internet use

Objective

Prior studies showed mixed results of the association between grandchild care and grandparents' health. This research focused on the mechanisms behind the above link by studying how internet use served as a mediator through which grandchild care has impacted grandparents' health. The study aimed to draw implications to improve health of grandparents who offer care to grandchildren.

Methods

Using a sample of 16,829 grandparents aged 50 through 80 from the 2018 wave of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), the study relied on the KHB method to conduct the analysis. Grandparental health was measured by self-rated health (SRH), instrumental activity of daily living (IADL), life satisfaction and depression.

Results

Overall, grandchild care had a positive effect on grandparental health. Those who engaged in grandchild care were more likely to use internet. In addition, internet use mediated the ways in which grandchild care impacted grandparents' health. Interne use generally promoted the positive influence of grandparental caregiving on grandparents' health. Specifically, the mediating effects of watching videos and chatting through the internet were most pronounced among urban grandmothers. The mediating effects of watching news were most noticeable among both urban grandmothers and grandfathers.

Conclusion

Internet use served as a mediator in the association between grandchild child care and grandparental health. Promoting internet usage may be an effective way reducing the negative impact of grandchild care on grandparents' mental health. It could also increase the positive effect of caregiving on grandparents' SRH and functional independence. The study also underscored the importance of taking rural-urban context and gender role into consideration when studying intergenerational caregiving and Chinese grandparents' health.

Grandparental childcare and second births in China

China has low birth rates at higher parities and intensive grandparental childcare. Despite this, there has been little empirical research into the role of intergenerational support in the transition to second birth. This study examines whether grandparental childcare increases the likelihood and speed of a transition to second birth in the context of relaxations in Chinese family planning policy and whether this differs for working and non-working mothers. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (2010-2016), the association between grandparental childcare, mother's working status and second childbirth are explored using split-population survival models to distinguish between the impact on the timing of fertility and ultimate parity progression. The odds of having a second child are four times higher for those who use grandparental childcare than those that don't. Amongst those who have a second child, grandparental childcare leads to 30% lower odds of transition to second birth than those without grandparental care, each month. Grandparental childcare is also associated with maternal employment, which is itself associated with a sharp decrease in the transition to second birth. At the micro-level, grandparental childcare helps mothers continue working, which in turn defers a second birth. The results emphasise the importance of work-life balance strategies, such as grandparental care, in enabling women of childbearing age to realize their fertility intentions in combination with work.

Accompanying your children: Living without parents at different stages of pre-adulthood and individual physical and mental health in adulthood

Objectives

This study examined how living without parents at different stages of childhood and adolescence affects physical and mental health in adulthood.

Methods

The data came from 3,464 survey respondents aged 18–36 in the 2018 China Labor-Force Dynamics Survey. Physical health was self-rated. Mental health was measured by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale. The ordered probit and ordinary least-squares regression analyses were employed to determine the associations between growing up without parents at different stages in pre-adulthood and individual physical and mental health in adulthood.

Results

Individuals who did not live with their parents during their minor years were more likely to report worse physical and mental health in adulthood, compared to those who lived with their parents. This difference was heterogeneous among different age stages and genders.

Conclusions

Absence of parents in the household has long-term impacts on the physical and mental health of children in adulthood, especially for females. The government should make feasible institutional arrangements to avoid the separation of minor children from their parents.

Children's Divorce and their Financial Support to Older Parents in Rural China

This study examined how adult children's divorce affected their financial support to older parents in rural China and how that relationship was dependent on children's gender. The sample was from rural Anhui Province and the working sample included 1629 older parents who reported their interactions with 6210 children across six waves of observations in 14 years (2001-2015). Generalized Estimating Equations showed that divorced sons provided less financial support to their parents than married sons. In contrast, divorced daughters did not necessarily provide less financial support than married daughters. This gender difference was statistically significant. The findings were discussed in the context of changing rural Chinese families, where the norm of filial piety is still strong but patrilineal tradition and gender ideology have experienced desynchronized changes.

Grandparenting and subjective well-being in China: The moderating effects of residential location, gender, age, and income

Grandparenting is a social determinant of older adults' subjective well-being (SWB) worldwide, and is receiving increasing scholarly attention. Grandparenting is particularly prevalent in China because of the increasing number of women in the labor force, shortages of daycare services, and intergenerational bonds. Based on three waves (2011, 2013, and 2015) of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (n = 14,846), we used pooled ordinary least squares (POLS) regression to examine the association between grandparenting and Chinese older adults' SWB and the moderating effects of residential location (rural/urban), gender, age, and income. We measured SWB by four outcomes: self-rated health, life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, and cognitive function. Our findings indicate that intensive grandparenting is positively associated with older adults' life satisfaction. Older adults providing a low-to-high intensity of grandparenting have better cognitive function than non-caregivers. Among caregivers, a moderate level of grandparenting is associated with better cognitive function. Residential location, age, and income are significant moderators. For example, high-intensity grandparenting is positively associated with rural grandparents' but not urban grandparents' life satisfaction. Although younger grandparents have better self-rated health, higher life satisfaction, and fewer depressive symptoms than their older counterparts if they provide grandparenting care, grandparenting is more beneficial for older grandparents' cognitive function. Both low and high intensities of grandparenting are positively related to self-rated health and cognitive function for grandparents with lower incomes. Overall, the findings of this study indicate how grandparenting is related to the SWB of older people in China in different social groups and of people living in different locations.

The effect of perceived social support on frailty and depression: A multicategorical multiple mediation analysis

The mediating effects of three sources of perceived social support on frailty severity and depression were examined. Conducted in rural China, data on 570 frail older women were studied. Results showed that significant others' support (mainly daughters) (β = 0.177 for frailty score = 3) mediated the relationship between frailty severity and depression, and the 95 % bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals did not straddle zero (0.013-0.419), while the mediating effects of family support (mainly sons) and friends support were not observed. Support from daughters contributes to frail mothers' mental health.

Intergenerational relationship quality and activity profiles among older adults in China

Currently, very few studies have comprehensively investigated how intergenerational relationship quality (IRQ) between older parents and adult children is related to older adults' activity engagement. To fill this gap, this study endeavoured to examine the associations between IRQ and older adults' activity profiles, not only considering the overall IRQ but also different dimensions of IRQ. We also aimed to reveal the different roles of IRQ with son(s) and with daughter(s). This study made use of survey data collected in Yibin City, Sichuan Province of China in 2018 (N = 4,211). We adopted hierarchical cluster analysis to identify activity profiles, and performed multinomial logistic regressions to assess the association between IRQ and the profiles. We identified five activity profiles among older adults: "caregiving-oriented", "employment-oriented", "social withdrawal", "diverse engagement" and "physically active". Those with greater IRQ were more likely to be "caregiving-oriented" and have "diverse engagement" relative to "social withdrawal". It also showed that structural-associational solidarity and affectual closeness were more predictive of the activity profiles, compared to consensual-normative solidarity and intergenerational conflict. Children's gender plays an important role in the relationship between IRQ and activity engagement profiles. Good intergenerational relationships might not narrow down older adults' activity domains, and instead might actually promote their participation in diverse domains. Promoting structural-associational solidarity and affectual closeness was likely to reduce social withdrawal among older adults in China.

Effect of physical frailty on elder mistreatment in a national survey: examining psychological vulnerability, housework involvement, and financial independence as mediators

OBJECTIVES

To explore the prevalence of EM in an older Chinese population and examine the mediating role of three psychosocial variables - psychological vulnerability, housework involvement, and financial independence - in the relationship between physical frailty and EM.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional analysis.

SETTING

The data source was the Third Survey on Chinese Women's Social Status (SCSSW), which is a nationwide decennial survey conducted in 2010.

PARTICIPANTS

Community-dwelling adults aged 60 and older who participated in SCSSW (N = 3516).

MEASUREMENTS

The past-year prevalence of EM and its seven subtypes, physical frailty, psychological vulnerability, housework involvement, financial independence, and demographic characteristics.

RESULTS

The past-year prevalence of EM was 4% among Chinese older adults, with psychological abuse being the most common subtype (3.9%). A higher level of physical frailty had a direct influence on EM. Older adults with higher levels of physical frailty were more likely to have higher levels of psychological vulnerability (anxiety, loneliness, and uselessness) and lower levels of housework involvement, which further correlated with increased risk of EM. Frail Chinese older adults were less likely to have financial independence, which in turn, surprisingly predicted a lower probability of EM.

CONCLUSIONS

In this nationally representative sample, we provided the first evidence of the prevalence of EM among Chinese older adults and expanded the global understanding of EM by examining the mediating role of three psychosocial variables. Future studies are warranted to corroborate our findings and identify factors contributing to the complex mechanism of EM.

The impact of son or daughter care on Chinese older adults' mental health

RATIONALE

The traditional cultural norm in China is that eldercare should be offered by a son and his family. However, several decades of family planning policies and rapid economic growth have led to low fertility rates, urbanisation, and cultural change, resulting in both reduced household size and the availability of sons. The traditional eldercare system is thus being challenged, especially in urban areas, with an increasing number of daughters supporting their parents, enabled by rising female empowerment, formal economic employment and improved financial capacities. Existing studies examine and compare the amount and types of support provided by sons and daughters, but very little is known about the differential health outcomes of parents experiencing eldercare offered by sons and by daughters.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigates the difference in mental health outcomes of parents who receive eldercare from their sons and from their daughters.

METHOD

We analyse waves 2013, 2015, and 2018 of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, with mental health measured by a 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D-10) score. We compare the CES-D-10 score between parents with different sources of care - son's family, daughter's family or other - with multivariate statistical analysis.

RESULTS

Receiving regular care from a son (or a daughter-in-law) is associated with a lower CES-D score than from a daughter (or a son-in-law). The difference mainly exists amongst those with a stronger son preference and those who are heavily deponent on their children, in particular rural parents, mothers, and those with less wealth.

CONCLUSION

Our study explores the evidence on mental health inequalities among parents with different sources of care, highlighting that lack of son care creates an apparent mental health disadvantage. Lowering older adults' dependency on their children may alleviate this inequality by improving their financial independence. We also suggest the development of a long-term care system and greater facilitation of older adults to take-up supplementary services for family care.

The Higher the Children's Achievements, the Better the Elderly Health? Evidence From China

Health, an important indicator for measuring the elderly's life and wellbeing, is an important part of positive and healthy aging. Children's achievements are closely linked to their parents' health. However, existing literature does not cover how children's achievements impact the health of their elderly parents. Data were derived from the 2014 Chinese Longitudinal Aging Social Survey; this study includes 6,793 elderly people ages 60 and older as samples. A multiple linear regression model was used to analyze the correlation between children's achievements and their elderly parents' health statuses in China. The results show that the higher the children's income and education, the better their health of their elderly parents. Living patterns, children' financial support to their parents, and social capital play a mediating role in the relationship between children and their elderly parents. These findings provide further insight into potential factors associated with the children's achievements and elderly health.

Motherhood Health Penalty: Impact of Fertility on Physical and Mental Health of Chinese Women of Childbearing Age

Background

The negative consequences of childbearing on mothers are called the motherhood penalty, and it manifests in the aspects of women's physical and mental health. In May 2021, China relaxed its birth policy that allowed a married couple to have three children. It gives women the opportunity to have more children, but also may increase more risks to mothers' physical and mental health.

Objectives

The objectives of this study were to clarify the relationships between the fertility and the physical/mental health of women of childbearing age and empirically confirm the existence of the motherhood health penalty in China.

Materials and Methods

Using a nationally representative dataset from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey 2018, we examined the effects of fertility on the physical and mental health of Chinese women of childbearing age. Physical health was self-rated, and mental health was assessed according to the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale. The instrumental variable approach and the models of inverse probability of treatment weighting of propensity scores and regression adjustment were employed to overcome the endogeneity between fertility and health of women.

Results

The empirical results showed that the total number of births had significant adverse impacts on the physical and mental health of women of childbearing age, which empirically demonstrated the existence of the motherhood health penalty in China. The results of heterogeneity analysis indicated that the physical and mental health of the rural women was more easily affected by childbearing compared with that of the urban samples. In a mechanism analysis, the pathways of income and the multiple roles played by mothers were found to mediate the impacts of the total number of births on the physical and mental health of women. The robustness checks showed that the results of this study were robust.

Conclusions

The findings of this study extend the motherhood penalty to the health domain, and they have important implications for improving healthcare policy for women of childbearing age in China and other countries and regions and promoting gender equality in the healthcare field.

Caregivers' perceived changes in engaged time with preschool-aged children during COVID-19: Familial correlates and relations to children's learning behavior and emotional distress

The COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting containment measures have forced many children and their caregivers around the world to spend unprecedented amounts of time at home. Based on a sample of 764 households with preschool-aged children in Wuhan, China, where the pandemic began, this study examined how primary caregivers perceived changes in the amount of time spent engaging with their children (i.e., engaged time) from the start of the pandemic and whether these changes were associated with children's learning behavior and emotional distress. The results showed that primary caregivers generally perceived increases in the amount of engaged time spent on indoor activities with their children but decreases in the amount of engaged time spent playing with their children outdoors. A bigger family size and greater loss of family income during the pandemic were associated with bigger perceived increases in caregivers' engaged time spent on indoor activities, whilst a higher level of parental education was associated with bigger perceived decreases in engaged time spent playing with children outdoors. The family's poorer physical health and higher levels of chaos during the pandemic were related to smaller perceived increases in caregivers' engaged time spent on educational activities. Finally, although bigger perceived increases in caregivers' indoor engaged time (e.g., time spent on educational activities) were associated with higher levels of positive learning behavior and fewer symptoms of anxiety and withdrawal in the children, bigger perceived decreases in outdoor play time were associated with fewer symptoms of anxiety and withdrawal. These findings offer valuable insights into caregivers' allocation of engaged time with their preschool-aged children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Support Now to Care Later: Intergenerational Support Exchanges and Older Parents' Care Receipt and Expectations

OBJECTIVES

Older parents' previous support exchanges with adult children could influence which child currently provides care, or which child they expect to provide care in the future. Distinguishing between support and care, we investigated how different types of past support exchanges with children were associated with care receipt and expectations from the parent's perspective.

METHODS

Older parents (N = 190; Mage = 79.98) reported on exchanges of tangible and non-tangible support, and provision of childcare support with each of their adult children (N = 709; Mage = 52.69) in two waves of the Family Exchanges Study (2008 and 2013). Multilevel, within-family, logistic regression models were estimated to examine how past patterns of support exchanges were associated with which child the older parent receives or expects to receive care from.

RESULTS

Parents with functional limitations at Wave 2 were more likely to receive care from children whom they received more tangible support from at the prior wave. Parents without current limitations more likely named children whom they previously provided childcare support to and received more tangible support from as their expected future caregiver.

DISCUSSION

This study distinguished different types of support to examine unique pathways to received and expected care within families. Taking the older parent's perspective, these findings endorse previous studies that emphasize continuity in the transition from receiving tangible support to receiving and expecting care from adult children. The findings also suggest the importance of older parents' childcare support given to adult children, highlighting reciprocity in intergenerational care exchanges.

Intergenerational support and depressive symptoms among older adults in rural China: the moderating roles of age, living alone, and chronic diseases

Background

While depressive symptoms are recognized as major mental health problems in later life, there is a lack of study in examining potential moderators in the association between intergenerational support and depressive symptoms, especially in social contexts with low socioeconomic status and inadequate formal public support. This study set out to examine the association between intergenerational support and depressive symptoms among older adults in rural Northeast China, and the potential moderating roles of age, living alone, and number of chronic diseases on this link.

Methods

A quota sampling approach was used to recruit 448 respondents aged 60 and above from rural Chinese communities. Depressive symptoms were the dependent variable. Intergenerational emotional, instrumental, and financial support were the main independent variables. Age, living alone, and number of chronic diseases were the moderators. Multiple linear regression models with interaction terms were conducted to test the proposed model.

Results

The results showed that intergenerational emotional support was significantly associated with depressive symptoms in older adults when instrumental and financial support and covariates were controlled (β = -0.196, p < .001). Age was found to have a significant moderating effect on the relationship between intergenerational instrumental support and depressive symptoms (β = -0.118, p < .05). Among older respondents aged 74.51 years and older, instrumental support was positively associated with depressive symptoms, but this association was not significant for younger respondents. Furthermore, living alone and number of chronic diseases suffered moderated the association between intergenerational financial support and depressive symptoms, which was statistically significant only for those living alone and with more chronic diseases (interaction term between living alone and intergenerational financial support: β = -0.082, p < .05; interaction term between number of chronic diseases and intergenerational financial support: β = -0.088, p < .05.

Conclusions

The findings not only highlight the important role of intergenerational support in promoting mental health in later life in rural Chinese contexts, but also identify within-population heterogeneity in the identified associations. Policy and intervention implications are discussed.

Son or Daughter Care in Relation to Self-Reported Health Outcomes for Older Adults in China

OBJECTIVES

Parental care in China is traditionally provided by sons. In recent decades-partly due to the One-Child Policy but also economic development and urbanization-significant changes have occurred with more and more parents receiving care from daughters. We investigate the disparities in outcomes of eldercare provided by son(s) and daughter(s).

METHODS

Our study compares the self-reported health (SRH) status of parents who receive eldercare from daughters and sons in China, analyzing the harmonized 2013, 2015, and 2018 waves of CHARLS with random-effects logistic estimates.

RESULTS

Our results show that the SRH status of parents who receive care from their sons is greater than those cared for by their daughters. This disparity is greater in rural areas, for mothers, and poorer families.

DISCUSSION

The One-Child Policy was more effective in urban areas, reducing both the availability of sons and cultural son preference. Higher levels of education received by girls in urban settings increases their employability and thus their ability to materially care for their parents. However, traditional norms and gender differences in social economic statuses still persist in rural areas, leading to higher SRH status of those cared for by sons, especially amongst those who are heavily dependent on their children: mothers or parents with less wealth.

Gender differences in depressive symptoms of rural Chinese grandparents caring for grandchildren

BACKGROUND

Caring for grandchildren is regarded as one of the principle roles of middle- and old-aged adults, especially among rural Chinese grandparents. This study aims to examine the gender differences in depressive symptoms of rural Chinese grandparents caring for grandchildren, based on the gender differences in grandparental role engagement and the theories of role strain and role enhancement.

METHODS

A total of 4833 rural citizens with one or more grandchildren were selected from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) conducted in 2015. Grandchild care was measured by continuous variable (duration) and categorical variable (no care, low intensity, moderate intensity, high intensity). Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). We used coarsened exact matching (CEM) to balance the covariates of caregivers and non-caregivers. Following CEM, 1975 non-caregivers and 2212 caregivers were identified (N = 4187). Multilevel linear regression was employed to examine the gender differences in depressive symptoms. We also tested for the moderating role of gender on the association between grandchild care and depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

Grandmothers were more likely to provide grandchild care (54.42% vs 51.43%) at high intensity (61.46% vs 51.01%), with longer duration (39.24 h vs 33.15 h) than that given by grandfathers. Grandmothers suffered more from depressive symptoms than grandfathers, and such gap increased when grandparents were involved in high-intensity care. Grandmothers providing grandchild care, particularly at moderate intensity, were associated with fewer depressive symptoms (Coef. = - 0.087, 95%CI: - 0.163, - 0.010; Coef. = - 0.291, 95%CI: - 0.435, - 0.147), compared with non-caregivers. Grandmothers giving moderate intensity of grandchild care were also associated with fewer depressive symptoms (Coef. = - 0.171, 95% CI: - 0.313, - 0.029), compared with those with low-intensity care. However, such associations were not significant among grandfathers.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings highlight the gender differences in depressive symptoms of rural Chinese grandparents caring for grandchildren. Grandparents should be encouraged to engage in grandchild care, but at moderate intensity. The health status of middle- and old-aged adults, particularly females, should be monitored closely. Humanistic care, preventive care and curative treatment strategies focusing on such populations should be developed and refined.

Income-Related Inequalities in Informal Care: Evidence From the Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey in China

Objectives

This report aims to examine income-related inequalities in informal care among older people with functional limitations in China.

Methods

Data are drawn from the 2005, 2008, 2011, and 2014 waves of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. Erreygers concentration index, concentration index, and horizontal inequity index are used to examine inequalities in informal care. A random effects model is then used to investigate the relationship between household income and informal care.

Results

There is no significant association between household income and the probability of receiving informal care. However, we observed a significant positive association between household income and hours of informal care received, indicating that those with higher household income receive more hours of informal care compared to those with lower household income. The degree of this inequality increases as the number of functional limitations increases.

Discussion

Lower household income is associated with lower intensity of informal care received, particularly for older people with more functional limitations. Policies are required to support low-income older people with more functional limitations.

Effect of older adults in the family on the sandwich generation's pursuit of entrepreneurship: evidence from China

Household entrepreneurship is a basic unit of entrepreneurial activity, and a crucial aspect of connecting personal and social wellbeing. This study examines the relationship between the proportion of elderly family members and household entrepreneurship. This study also assesses the mediating effect of the middle-aged generation's support to their parents and the moderating effect of the parents’ support with respect to the proportion of elderly family members and entrepreneurship. We use data from the China Family Panel Studies. We adopt the instrumental variable method to deal with endogeneity, robustness and credibility of the estimation results. The results show that a higher proportion of elderly family members impedes household entrepreneurship. Moreover, the financial and instrumental support provided by the middle-aged generation to their parents significantly mediates the relationship between the proportion of elderly family members and household entrepreneurship. In turn, parents’ financial support to the middle-aged generation moderates the focal relationship; however, parents’ instrumental support does not moderate the focal relationship. These findings emphasise the need to develop a comprehensive social security network for older adults that will indirectly promote household entrepreneurship, and improve personal and social wellbeing.

Children's Relative Living Proximity and Intergenerational Support to Older Parents in China

Although research has recognized the influence of geographic proximity on intergenerational support in Chinese families, the effect of siblings' geographic proximity remains unexplored. Guided by the within-family differences approach, this study uses data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study to examine how the relativity of children's and their siblings' geographic proximity is associated with children's support to older parents and how the association differs by child gender. Results show that living relatively farther among siblings is associated with providing less economic support and have less contact with parents, but this negative effect is less prominent on sons' economic support and daughters' contact with parents. Having siblings living at the same distance also affects children's support behaviors. The findings reveal that support responsibilities could be differentially distributed by children's relative living proximity among siblings and indicate the importance of considering sibling influences when studying intergenerational support in Chinese families.

New Structure, Traditional Essence: Patterns of Helping Non-Coresident Parents by Own and Sibling(s)' Gender in China

As Chinese households are becoming smaller with increasing numbers of adult children and older parents living apart, the extent to which patterns of parental support reflect traditional gender dynamics is under debate. Integrating theories of sibling compensation with ceremonial giving, we tested whether helping non-coresident parents in China is affected by sibship size and how these patterns depend on own and sibling(s)' gender using a sample of 4,359 non-coresident parent-child dyads nesting within 3,285 focal adult children from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2013. Opposite to patterns in the United States and Europe, we found substitutions of daughters with sons-having more brothers was associated with daughters' reduced probabilities and hours of helping. Sons' patterns of helping were independent of number of brothers and sisters in the family, consistent with the theory of ceremonial giving. These findings reflect the dominance of traditional family dynamics despite changes in family structure.

Protective effect of adult children's education on parental survival in China: Gender differences and underlying mechanisms

This study investigates whether adult children's education has a protective effect on parental survival, using data from all waves (2010-2018) of the China Family Panel Studies. We exploited the exogenous temporal and geographical variations in the enforcement of the 1986 compulsory schooling laws in China to construct an instrumental variable (IV) for adult children's education. The IV estimates indicated that the law-induced higher education of adult children led to sizeable improvements in the likelihood of paternal survival, although it had no significant effect on maternal survival. The protective effect on paternal survival was mainly driven by better-educated daughters, while sons' education had only a modest positive effect on maternal survival. Further evidence suggested that such heterogeneity by the gender of adult children might mainly come through more informal caregiving from better-educated daughters to older fathers with a limited role played by financial support from adult children.

Intergenerational Ties in Context: Association between Caring for Grandchildren and Cognitive Function in Middle-Aged and Older Chinese

Grandchild caregiving is suggested to improve the elderly’s cognitive function, but the specific relationship remains under-investigated. Considering gender disparity, this study aimed to understand the relationship between grandchild caregiving and cognition. In total, 7236 Chinese residents (≥45 years old) were selected from the 2015 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (CHARLS-HCAP) was used to measure cognition. Grandparenting was measured from three dimensions: caregiving frequency, intensity, and the number of grandchildren cared for. The relationship was examined by multivariate linear regression, with age as a moderator. The results showed that the majority of respondents provided care to their grandchildren, especially grandmothers. Grandchild caregiving was positively associated with cognition (β = 0.686, 95% CI = 0.334–1.038), especially in the older-aged group. Moderate, not regular grandparenting, or caring for one grandchild was more positively associated with cognitive function. However, intensive and regular grandchild care was significantly associated with cognition only in men. No moderating effects of age were found in women. The study confirmed that moderate intensity and frequency of caregiving was related to better cognitive function in middle-aged and older Chinese population, whereas cultural context and gender differences could be considered when designing targeted policies.

Family vulnerability for sick older adults: An empirical ethics study

BACKGROUND

In China, the conventional family-based ageing care model is under pressure from social transitions, raising the question of whether and to what extent families are still capable of dealing with the care of the aged.

OBJECTIVE

This article examines the vulnerability and inadequacy of families to bear responsibility for the care of the aged against a backdrop of socioeconomic transformation and diminishing institutional support in rural China.

RESEARCH DESIGN

This article adopts an empirical ethical approach that integrates empirical investigation with ethical inquiry.

PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT

The empirical component of this article focuses on the lived experiences of caring for a wife and mother with dementia in one rural Chinese family, collected from a 6-month fieldwork study conducted at one primary hospital.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Approval was obtained from the university ethics committee.

FINDINGS

The empirical study highlights a conflicted family process of managing and negotiating care that indicates the inadequacies and limited ability of families to deal with aged care tasks. In addition, inadequate structures and institutional deficiencies exacerbate the vulnerability of rural families and their inability to offer adequate care.

CONCLUSION

Acknowledging the vulnerability of families as ageing care providers, this article calls for a socially supported family care model for rural older people in China and also proposes policy recommendations.

Scoping Review: Intergenerational Resource Transfer and Possible Enabling Factors

We explore the intergenerational pattern of resource transfer and possible associated factors. A scoping review was conducted of quantitative, peer-reviewed, English-language studies related to intergenerational transfer or interaction. We searched AgeLine, PsycINFO, Social Work Abstracts, and Sociological Abstracts for articles published between Jane 2008 and December 2018. Seventy-five studies from 25 countries met the inclusion criteria. The scoping review categorised resource transfers into three types: financial, instrumental, and emotional support. Using an intergenerational solidarity framework, factors associated with intergenerational transfer were placed in four categories: (1) demographic factors (e.g., age, gender, marital status, education, and ethno-cultural background); (2) needs and opportunities factors, including health, financial resources, and employment status; (3) family structures, namely, family composition, family relationship, and earlier family events; and (4) cultural-contextual structures, including state policies and social norms. Those factors were connected to the direction of resource transfer between generations. Downward transfers from senior to junior generations occur more frequently than upward transfers in many developed countries. Women dominate instrumental transfers, perhaps influenced by traditional gender roles. Overall, the pattern of resource transfer between generations is shown, and the impact of social norms and social policy on intergenerational transfers is highlighted. Policymakers should recognise the complicated interplay of each factor with different cultural contexts. The findings could inform policies that strengthen intergenerational solidarity and support.

Education, adult children's education, and depressive symptoms among older adults in rural China

This study examines whether children's education amplifies the effect of older adults' own education on their later life depressions in rural China. Data derives from six waves of panel data (2001, 2003 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2015) from the Longitudinal Study of Older Adults in Anhui Province, China. Random effect models showed that both older adults' own education and adult children's education had direct effects on depressive symptoms of older adults. Older adults' education influenced children's education, and in turn influenced intergenerational support from children, which consequently influenced depressive symptoms of older adults. Taken together, children's education amplifies the effect of older adults' own education on their depressive symptoms in rural China. This process increases health inequalities among older adults as a result of associated educational achievements in two generations. Educational policy should promote the equality of educational attainment of individuals in the future.

Productive Activity Patterns and Functional Health: A Comparison of Urban and Rural Chinese Older Adults

This study examines the association between productive activity patterns and functional health trajectories of Chinese older adults and whether this association varies by urban/rural residence. Using three waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study from a sample of 7,503 older adults, we first performed latent class analysis (LCA) to identify productive activity patterns based on four activities (work, caregiving, informal help, and formal volunteering). Next, multilevel regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between the identified productive activity patterns and functional health trajectories among older adults. Four productive activity patterns are identified from LCA: nonengagers, working-caregivers, workers, and helpers. We find that participation in productive activities is associated with slower functional health decline. The moderation effects of urban/rural differences are prominent across identified groups. Our findings highlight the importance of the urban/rural context in understanding productive aging and its health consequences among Chinese older adults.

Community-Based Cognitive Social Capital and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Adults in Urban China: The Moderating Role of Family Social Capital

The present study examined the moderating role of family social capital in the relationship between community-based cognitive social capital and depressive symptoms among community-dwelling older adults in urban China. Cross-sectional data were derived from a community survey conducted in Suzhou, China, in late 2015. Data from 441 respondents were included in the final analysis. Multiple group analysis was used to test the hypotheses. The latent construct of community-based cognitive social capital was based on trust and reciprocity indicators. Measurement invariance was established across groups with high or low family social capital. The results show that family social capital had a moderation effect on the relationship between community-based cognitive social capital and depressive symptoms. The effects of community-based cognitive social capital on depressive symptoms were higher among those with low family social capital. The findings demonstrate the interplay between family and community-based cognitive social capital. Policy and intervention implications are discussed.

Living in skipped generation households and happiness among middle-aged and older grandparents in China

This study examines whether living in skipped-generation households (SGHs) is prospectively linked to happiness among middle-aged and older grandparents in China and explores the moderating effects of age, gender, education, income and rural-urban status on this link. The analyses use the two most recent waves of data (collected in 2012 and 2014) from the China Family Panel Studies. The outcome is a continuous, single-item happiness scale composed of data taken from the latter wave, while the key predictor is a categorical measurement of the respondents' living arrangements in 2012. The analyses use ordinary least squares (OLS) linear regression analyses to assess the relationship between the two variables of interest. Overall, grandparents living in SGHs are less happy than those living only with a spouse or those living in three-generation households. Age group and rural-urban status are found to be significant moderators. The negative link between living in SGHs and happiness is largely absent in the oldest age group (i.e., age 70 or above) and among urban dwellers.

Physical and mental health of Chinese grandparents caring for grandchildren and great-grandparents

The increasing worldwide prevalence and intensity of grandparenting has attracted an attention to its health implications for caregivers against the backdrop of population aging. Thanks to prolonged life expectancy and reduced infant mortality, extended families that comprise four generations, co-residential or not, are no longer rare in China. The current study examines health consequences when Chinese grandparents provide care to not only grandchildren but also their own elderly parents or parents-in-law (i.e., great-grandparents). Drawing on data from the 2011-2013 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), mental health was captured by levels of life satisfaction and depressive symptoms, and physical health was measured by levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), hypertension, high-risk pulse rate, and diabetes. Overall grandparents who cared for grandchildren only had better mental and physical health, compared with non-caregivers. There was some evidence that the 'sandwich' grandparents who cared for both grandchildren and great-grandparents reported greater life satisfaction, fewer depressive symptoms, and reduced hypertension compared with non-caregivers. The health advantage of caregiving was most pronounced in urban grandfathers whose caregiving conformed to the norm of filial piety and who did so most likely to seek emotional reward instead of an intergenerational time-for-money exchange. In contrast, rural grandmothers were the most vulnerable group and their health disadvantage seemed to arise from caring for great-grandparents. These findings highlight the importance of rural-urban context and gender role in studying the health effects of intergenerational caregiving on Chinese grandparents.

Informal care provision across multiple generations in China

With increasing life expectancy, changes in family structure and, most recently, the relaxation of the hitherto strict family planning policies, understanding how mid-life individuals support multiple generations, particularly their older parents and younger grandchildren, is of increasing research and policy significance in China. This paper analyses data from the 2011 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) to examine the characteristics of Chinese mid-life individuals aged 45–64 who are potentially being ‘sandwiched’ between providing care to older parents/parents-in-law and/or younger grandchildren (under age 16). Binary logistic and multinomial regression models shed light on the factors associated with providing support to one generation or multiple generations. The results highlight that amongst the Chinese mid-life sandwich generation, 58 per cent only provide care to their young grandchildren, 23 per cent only provide care to their parents/parents-in-law, whilst 15 per cent are simultaneously supporting both generations. Rather than acting as competing demands upon the mid-lifers’ time, the multivariate analysis provides evidence that the provision of intergenerational care is complementary, with caring for grandchildren increasing the probability of also supporting one's parents/parents-in-law, and vice versa. However, an increase in the number of younger grandchildren has a negative impact on the care provided to older parents/parents-in-law, indicating that at higher care intensities there may be competing demands across the generations.

Conditions for pets to prevent depression in older adults

OBJECTIVE

The study aims to determine if and how pet availability and engagement predicted depression in older adults. The prediction can be unconditional or independent of the sociodemographic characteristics of the older adult and/or conditional or dependent on the characteristics. These predictions rest on the contribution of resources pooled from older adults, their spouses, and pets, according to ecological theory.

METHOD

The present study analyzed the effects of pet availability and engagement based on a survey of 340 older adults in Hong Kong, China.

RESULTS

Pet engagement but not pet availability manifested a significant negative effect on depression unconditionally. In addition, pet availability and engagement indicated some significant negative effects conditionally, including living with the spouse as a condition.

CONCLUSION

For preventing depression in older adults, promoting their pet availability and engagement is promising. Particularly, the promotion would be more effective for older adults living with their spouses and being more resourceful than for others.

The longitudinal effects of grandchild care on depressive symptoms and physical health of grandmothers in South Korea: a latent growth approach

OBJECTIVES

This study examined longitudinal effects of grandmothers' patterns in caring for their grandchildren, and observed the influence of these patterns on grandmothers' depressive symptoms and self-rated health status, using latent growth curve models.

METHOD

Four waves of the large-scale Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging data were used for this study. The total sample consisted of 1,948 female participants, who have at least one grandchild, and who were age 50-74 in 2006. The study employed the multiple-group latent growth curve using Mplus to analyze if patterns of grandchild care predicted developmental trajectories of depressive symptoms and self-rated health over time.

RESULTS

Grandmothers who stopped raising grandchildren reported more depressive symptoms over time than did grandmothers who never raised grandchildren. However, this pattern was not found in the group with income more than 60 percent of the median income in Korea, but this pattern was found in the group with income below 60 percent of the median.

CONCLUSION

Findings from the latent growth curve modeling indicate how caring for grandchildren affected grandmothers' depressive symptoms and self-rated health status from a longitudinal perspective. Implications for future research and policies on grandchild care are discussed.

Children's education and their financial transfers to ageing parents in rural China: mothers and fathers’ strategic advantages in enforcing reciprocity

This investigation examined the impact of children's education on their financial support to older parents in rural China based on a theoretical framework that regards financial transfers from adult children as motivated by parents’ earlier investments on children's education, and mothers and fathers having different strategic advantages to enforce reciprocity. The sample derived from six waves of panel data from the Longitudinal Study of Older Adults in Anhui Province, China, from 2001 to 2015, based on which we constructed five stacked intervals (2001–2003, 2003–2006, 2006–2009, 2009–2012, 2012–2015). The random-effects models showed that the highest educated child provided more financial support than other children and that the amount was conditional on the actual educational attainment of the highest educated child. Our results also suggested that fathers and mothers have different strategic advantages in the process. Mothers’ emotional bonds with their highest educated children enforced financial returns. In contrast, fathers’ stronger identification with traditional filial norms was more consequential for receiving financial support from the highest educated children. We discuss these findings in the context of the patrilineal family system and social changes, including rapid population ageing and the decline of fertility rates.

Financial transfers from adult children and depressive symptoms among mid-aged and elderly residents in China - evidence from the China health and retirement longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

Although the awareness of mental health problems in late life is rising, the association between financial transfers to the older generations from children and mental health at older ages in China has received little attention. This study examines the association between financial transfers from children and depressive symptoms among the mid-aged and elderly residents (from 45 years of age and older) in China.

METHODS

We used the data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS, 2013) (n = 10,935) This included data on financial transfers from all non-co-resident children to their parents, and the individual scores on depressive symptoms as measured by the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CESD-10). A two-level - individual and community levels - mixed linear model was deployed to explore their association.

RESULTS

Financial transfers from children to parents was the major component of inter-generational financial transfers in Chinese families. A higher financial support from non-co-resident children was signivicantly and positively related to fewer depressive symptoms (coef. = - 0.195,P-value< 0.001) among both the mid-aged and elderly parents.

CONCLUSIONS

Financial transfers from non-co-resident children are associated with depressive symptoms among mid-aged and elderly residents in the China situation. Taxation and other policy measures should encourage and facilitate these type of financial transfers and prevent a decrease of support from children to parents.

Migration and the Multi-Dimensional Well-Being of Elderly Persons in Georgia

High rates of migration coupled with low formal social protection provisions may place many members of the elderly Georgian population in precarious living conditions that promote vulnerability and limit well-being achievement. This potential connection has been poorly explored in past literature, however, suggesting a need to better assess how the migration of an adult child may influence the multidimensional well-being of the elderly in Georgia. Using a novel dataset comprising 2202 elderly individuals across all regions of Georgia (excepting the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia), this paper proposes a multidimensional well-being index that has been specifically designed to encompass the unique resources and constraints faced by elderly individuals in different age cohorts. Following the construction of a multidimensional well-being index-comprised of domains including physical health and independence, housing well-being, social well-being, and emotional well-being-the outcomes of elderly individuals are compared by age and the presence/absence of adult children due to migration. Findings suggest that the migration status of an elderly person's adult children is related to the attainment of well-being. Elderly individuals with a migrant child are more likely to attain well-being in physical health as well as in the overall multidimensional well-being index.

Older Parents Benefit More in Health Outcome From Daughters' Than Sons' Emotional Care in China

OBJECTIVE

To examine whether older parents in China would benefit more from daughters' care than from sons' emotional care.

METHOD

Analysis of the unique data sets of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey conducted in 2002, 2005, and 2008-2009 in 22 provinces.

RESULTS

As compared with having son(s), having daughter(s) is significantly more beneficial at older ages in China, with regard to maintaining higher cognitive capacity and reducing mortality risk. Such daughter advantages in providing emotional care to older parents are more profound among the oldest-old aged 80+ as compared with the young-old aged 65 to 79 and surprisingly more profound in rural areas as compared with urban areas, even though son preference is much more common among rural residents.

DISCUSSION

We describe how educational campaigns aimed at informing the public about the benefits of daughter(s) for older parents' health outcome could help promote gender equality and reduce traditional son preference, especially in rural China.

Mother–child relations in adulthood within and across national borders: non-Western immigrants in the Netherlands

We examined structures of (trans)national mother–child relationships in adulthood among non-Western immigrants in the Netherlands and assessed how acculturation impacted these intergenerational ties. From the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese and Antillean respondents were selected whose mother lived in the Netherlands (N = 360) or abroad (N = 316). First, extending a previous typology of immigrant mother–child relations in the Netherlands, Latent Class Analysis was conducted for transnational relations. As expected, combining information about given and/or received emotional and financial support resulted in an emotional-interdependent and detached transnational mother–child relationship. Second, acculturation effects were estimated by using relationship assignment as a dependent variable, performing Logistic Regressions on our uni-national and transnational sample. Findings were mixed, suggesting acculturation impacts differently on family relations within and across borders. Overall, our results demonstrate the importance of reciprocal affective ties in a transnational context, also in the absence of financial or practical support, and show the relevance of distinguishing different facets of acculturation.

End-of-Life Co-residence of Older Parents and Their Sons in Rural China

Cette étude a examiné comment les échanges intergénérationnels avec des fils et des filles prédit la probabilité des parents âgés vivant ensemble avec un fils avant de mourir, dans une zone rurale de la province de l'Anhui de la Chine. Notre enquête puise des théories de la co-résidence dépendante, la modernisation et l'échange social; il a conceptualisé la co-résidence comme ayant une importance pratique et symbolique dans la culture chinoise rurale. L'échantillon comprenait 470 parents âgés qui ont été rapportés défunts au cours de la période 2001-2009, et leurs informateurs posthumes. Nous avons utilisé la régression logistique pour évaluer le soutien et la cohésion intergénérationnel entre les générations comme facteurs prédictifs de la co-résidence avec un fils juste avant la mort. Les parents âgés qui ont fourni soutien matériel à, et ont reçu soutien matériel de leur fils, et avait de meilleures relations affectives avec leurs fils, étaient plus susceptibles que leurs homologues de vivre avec un fils à la fin de la vie. Vivre avec les fils démontre la piété filiale pour les parents âgés à la fin de la vie, mais sa réalisation est sensible aux échanges entre les générations.

Bequest Motives of older people in Rural China: From the Perspective of Intergenerational Support

China, a society long characterized by traditional Confucianism and the practice of filial piety, is undergoing dramatic socioeconomic development and erosion of traditions. In this rapidly changing context, the motives behind rural parental bequests have not been well studied. This paper draws on a survey conducted in rural Anhui province of China and uses hierarchical linear models (HLM) to examine whether three kinds of support from children are associated with older parents' bequest motives. We find that while instrumental support accords with an exchange model of motivation, financial transfer is consistent with an altruistic motivation for parental bequest plans. Offspring gender is strongly associated with parental planning of bequests, when only sons are considered; family division is a strong correlate of parents' bequest plan and reflects exchange motivation. These findings have important implications for research on traditional culture and an evolving social security system.

Sibling structure, distributive norms, and negotiation for mothers-in-law's assistance in rural South China

CONTEXT

Recent studies of parent-adult child relations using a network family approach have paid increasing attention to within-family differences and the role of in-laws in parent-adult child exchanges. However, the effect of sibling structure on the allocation of childcare and household help provided by older women, the negotiation process among in-laws and the underlying principle(s) have been under-examined.

PURPOSE AND METHODS

Based on ethnographic and interview data collected from 28 women in rural South China, this article examines the effect of sibling structure on mothers-in-law's assistance in the context of economic reform, and the role of cultural norms and daughters-in-law in the negotiation process using a family network perspective.

FINDINGS

Since the late 1970s, the sibling order of husbands and the presence of their unmarried brothers have negatively affected the bargaining power of young married women and their access to childcare assistance from their mothers-in-law. In terms of household help, sibling size and the equity principle have prevented mothers-in-law in larger extended families from providing assistance during both the pre-reform and reform periods. Although the equity norm is a pivotal moral resource for daughters-in-law in negotiating parental support, other competing norms, particularly parents' obligations to their unmarried adult sons, may set limits on their claims and bargaining power.

IMPLICATIONS

FINDINGS demonstrate that the distribution of childcare and household help provided by mothers-in-law are results of intra- and intergenerational negotiation among daughters- and mothers-in-law, rather than simply a dyadic parent-child relationship. Competing norms and daughters-in-law also play important roles in the negotiation for parental help.

End-of-Life Family Caregiving for Older Parents in China’s Rural Anhui Province

Cette étude a examiné les corrélats de la prestation de soins de la fin de vie fournis par les enfants adultes à leurs parents âgés et le rôle du sexe des enfants adultes en soins familiaux dans la Chine rurale. Les données proviennent de cinq vagues de l'Étude longitudinale du bien-être des personnes âgées en milieu rural dans la province de l'Anhui, en Chine, pendant 12 ans, et d'une enquête post-mortalité. On a utilisé la modélisation linéaire hiérarchique . Les résultats ont montré que l'ordre de naissance des enfants adultes, la distance géographique antérieure, et l'échange du soutien intergénérationnel antérieur étaient significativement associés à la prestation de soins de famille de la fin de vie. Les enfants les plus âgés, par rapport à d'autres frères et sœurs, fourni les plus grand soins de fin de vie pour leurs parents. Les enfants qui cohabitent avec les parents plus âgés avant leur mort, par rapport à d'autres enfants des mêmes parents, ont offert les plus grands soins. Les enfants adultes qui avaient déjà échangé le soutien instrumental avec les parents âgés avant la mort, en particulier les fils, tendaient à fournir le plus grands soins en fin de vie, par rapport à ceux d'autres.

Grandparents and grandchildren: care and support in Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam

Recent surveys in Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam reveal that substantial proportions of persons aged 60 and older co-reside with grandchildren and commonly provide grandparental care. Usually the grandchildren's parents are also present. Situations in which the grandchildren's parents are absent are considerably less frequent. Parents are commonly the main source of the grandchildren's financial support even if absent. Most grandparents that provide care do not consider it a serious burden even when the grandchild's parents are absent. Moreover, grandparental care is not always one-directional as grandchildren can also be of help to grandparents. These features of grandchild care reflect a regional cultural context that views acceptance of reciprocal intergenerational obligations as normal and in which co-residence of older persons and adult children is still common. Differences in economic development and past fertility trends account for much of the observed differences in grandparental care among the three countries by affecting grandchildren availability and migration of adult children. In addition, economic development and demographic trends will continue to shape grandparental care in the coming decades. Despite the lack of attention to development and demographic context in previous studies, these aspects of the changing societal context deserve a prominent place within conceptual frameworks guiding comparative research on grandparenting.