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

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.

Intergenerational ties in late life

At the turn of the twenty-first century, scholars predicted that ties between aging parents and grown offspring would grow in prominence and become the primary relationship for many adults. These ties are often emotionally complex, in both positive and negative ways, and resource rich with regard to support. Contact between generations has become both more frequent in the form of coresidence and less frequent due to high rates of migration. Support exchanges are often high in this tie involving, emotional, financial and practical assistance. A burgeoning literature addresses the implications of loss of this tie via death or estrangement. Collectively, recent studies address strengths of these ties, and explanations for their absence when that occurs.

The Changing Demography of Late-Life Family Caregiving: A Research Agenda to Understand Future Care Networks for an Aging U.S. Population

Repeated claims that a dwindling supply of potential caregivers is creating a crisis in care for the U.S. aging population have not been well-grounded in empirical research. Concerns about the supply of family care do not adequately recognize factors that may modify the availability and willingness of family and friends to provide care to older persons in need of assistance or the increasing heterogeneity of the older population. In this paper, we set forth a framework that places family caregiving in the context of older adults' care needs, the alternatives available to them, and the outcomes of that care. We focus on care networks, rather than individuals, and discuss the demographic and social changes that may alter the formation of care networks in the future. Last, we identify research areas to prioritize in order to better support planning efforts to care for the aging U.S. population.

Grandparenting and life satisfaction among Chinese elderlies: a study of possible mechanisms

OBJECTIVE

This study examines the impact of caregiving on older people's life satisfaction, focusing on the role of caring for grandchildren. The study considers individual characteristics (aging attitudes) and situational factors (intergenerational support) and aims to identify the mediating roles of aging attitudes and intergenerational support in the relationship between caregiving and life satisfaction.

METHOD

The study analyzed data from the 2014 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS), focusing on 5363 grandparents who reported providing care for their grandchildren in the 12 months before the survey. Life satisfaction was subjectively measured. The data was analyzed using multiple linear regression, propensity score matching, and mediation analysis.

RESULT

The study found that grandparents who cared for their grandchildren have higher levels of life satisfaction. Self-aging attitudes, general aging attitudes, intergenerational economic support, intergenerational instrumental support, and intergenerational emotional support fully mediated the relationship between grandchild care and life satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates that caring for grandchildren is a vital activity for older people that helps them develop positive aging attitudes and strengthens intergenerational support, thereby improving their quality of life. Hence, the government, society, families, and communities should provide more social support to older adults caring for grandchildren. This would not only benefit the health of the older people themselves but also promote intergenerational harmony and family development.

Activities of Daily Living Needs and Support in Adult Child-Parent Dyads

This study examined whether changes in middle-aged children's perceptions of their parents' activities of daily living needs (ADL needs) were associated with changes in the mutuality of support in their relationship. A group of 366 middle-aged children in Waves 1 (2008) and 2 (2013) of the Family Exchanges Study self-reported providing and receiving tangible, emotional, and informational support to and from their n = 468 parents. Increased perceived parental ADL needs were associated with increased provision of tangible and informational support to parents but not with changes in support received. Increases in perceived parental ADL needs were associated with higher incongruence for all three support types (the child providing more support than they receive).