Silverstein M, Zhang W. Grandparents' Financial Contributions to Grandchildren in Rural China: The Role of Remittances, Household Structure, and Patrilineal Culture.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2020;
75:1042-1052. [PMID:
30698810 PMCID:
PMC7931852 DOI:
10.1093/geronb/gbz009]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2018] [Accepted: 01/18/2019] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
This investigation examined predictors of monetary transfers made by grandparents for the benefit of their grandchildren in rural China. Predictors included family factors related to financial supply (remittances received from the parents of grandchildren), household demand (living in a skipped-generation household), and patrilineal culture (targeting sons and grandsons).
METHOD
The 2015 wave of the Longitudinal Study of Older Adults in Anhui Province was used to study financial transfers made by 831 grandparents to grandchildren in the families of 1,633 parents. Two-part random-effects regression was used to predict whether a transfer was made and the value of transfers, given that one occurred.
RESULTS
Grandparents provided higher value transfers to grandchildren whose parents provided greater remittances and with whom they coresided in skipped-generation households. The likelihood of making a transfer fully followed the male lineage, and was greatest to grandson-only families in which parents were first-born sons.
DISCUSSION
Results show that economic, household, and cultural factors are independently associated with the largesse of grandparents. We conclude that grandparents' economic contributions to grandchildren in rural China are shaped by family demands in a highly mobile society, intergenerational interdependence, and a persistent patrilineal gender system that reaches to the level of grandchildren.
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