scholarly journals The implications of today's family structures for support giving to older parents

2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARIA C. STUIFBERGEN ◽  
JOHANNES J. M. VAN DELDEN ◽  
PEARL A. DYKSTRA
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Adult Children ◽  
Parent Child Relationship ◽  
Filial Obligation ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Family Structures ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Elderly Parents ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Practical Support

ABSTRACTThere is considerable debate about the effects of today's family structures on support arrangements for older people. Using representative data from The Netherlands, the study reported in this paper investigates which socio-demographic characteristics of adult children and their elderly parents, and which motivations of the adult children, correlate with children giving practical and social support to their parents. The findings indicate that the strongest socio-demographic correlates of a higher likelihood of giving support were: having few siblings, having a widowed parent without a new partner and, for practical support, a short geographical distance between the parent's and child's homes. Single mothers were more likely to receive support than mothers with partners, irrespective of whether their situation followed divorce or widowhood. Widowed fathers also received more support, but only with housework. A good parent-child relationship was the most important motivator for giving support, whereas subscribing to filial obligation norms was a much weaker motivator, especially for social support. Insofar as demographic and cultural changes in family structures predict a lower likelihood of support from children to elderly parents, this applies to practical support, and derives mainly from increased geographical separation distances and from the growing trend for parents to take new partners. Social support is unlikely to be affected by these changes if parents and children maintain good relationships.

scholarly journals Intergenerational flows of support between parents and adult children in Britain

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARIA EVANDROU ◽  
JANE FALKINGHAM ◽  
MADELIN GOMEZ-LEON ◽  
ATHINA VLACHANTONI
Keyword(s):  
Child Care ◽  
Adult Children ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Population Ageing ◽  
Intergenerational Support ◽  
Care Provision ◽  
Dynamic Nature ◽  
Family Structures ◽  
National Child Development Study ◽  
Older Parents

ABSTRACTUnderstanding patterns of intergenerational support is critical within the context of demographic change, such as changing family structures and population ageing. Existing research has focused on intergenerational support at a given time in the individuals' lifecourse, e.g. from adult children towards older parents and vice versa; however, few studies have focused on the dynamic nature of such support. Analysing data from the 1958 National Child Development Study, this paper investigates the extent to which the receipt of parental help earlier in the lifecourse affects the chances of adult children reciprocating with support towards their parents later in life. The findings show that three-quarters of mid-life adults had received some support from their parents earlier in life, and at age 50 more than half were providing care to their parents. Patterns of support received and provided across the lifecourse differ markedly by gender, with sons being more likely to have received help with finances earlier in the lifecourse, and daughters with child care. The results highlight that care provision towards parents was associated with support receipt earlier in life. However, the degree of reciprocity varies according to the type of care provided by children. Such findings have implications for informal care provision by adult children towards future cohorts of older people, and by extension, the organisation of social care.

scholarly journals Family Practices Across Generations and National Borders

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-169
Author(s):  
Ionuţ Földes ◽  
Veronica Savu
Keyword(s):  
Adult Children ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Intergenerational Support ◽  
Elderly Parents ◽  
Practical Support ◽  
Family Practices ◽  
And Migration ◽  
National Borders

Abstract Part of the mobility and migration process, family relationships and mutual support are subject of various transformations. Spatial separation between family members creates a specific setting for analysis which leads to the necessity of understanding how family practices are arranged and developed across time and distance. The present study focuses on the dyad emigrated adult children and non-migrated elderly parents living in Romania and on the types of intergenerational family practices that occur between these dyads across national borders. Our analysis of family practices relies on tracing certain set of actions taken by family members in order to maintain, consolidate, and ultimately to display family solidarity. We consider here various forms of practices, namely technological mediated contacts, visits, time-consuming practical support and financial assistance. Analyses are based on the national survey entitled Intergenerational solidarity in the context of work migration abroad. The situation of elderly left at home, which provides empirical data about the relationships from a distance between elderly parents living in Romania and their migrant adult children. Descriptive statistics are provided in order to assess the flow directions, the frequency and the intensity of each type of intergenerational support. Our empirical evidence highlights that transnational support is asymmetrical and multidirectional. Results also support that intergenerational support and family relationships can no longer be theoretically approached in terms of a simple dichotomy.

Filial norms and family support in a comparative cross-national context: evidence from the OASIS study

2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
ARIELA LOWENSTEIN ◽  
SVEIN OLAV DAATLAND
Keyword(s):  
Adult Children ◽  
Filial Obligation ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
The North ◽  
Emotional Bonds ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Specific Factors ◽  
Country Specific ◽  
Cross National

The article aims to answer three questions: How strong are the bonds of obligations and expectations between generations? To what extent are different types of support exchanged between generations? What are the impacts of filial norms, opportunity structures and emotional bonds on the exchange of inter-generational support between adult children and older parents across societies? It reports findings from the five-country (Norway, England, Germany, Spain and Israel) OASIS study, which collected data from representative, age-stratified, urban-community samples of about 1,200 respondents in each country. The findings indicate that solidarity is general and considerable although the strengths of its dimensions vary by country. Most respondents acknowledged some degree of filial obligation, although the proportions were higher in Spain and Israel than in the northern countries, and there was greater variation in the tangible forms than in the expressed norms. Adult children were net providers of support, but older parents provided emotional support and financial help. Most support was provided to unmarried older parents with physical-function limitations. The effect of filial norms on help provision by adult children was moderate but significant and variable across the five countries, appearing more prescriptive in the south than in the north, where inter-generational exchanges were more open to negotiation. The findings demonstrate that cross-national analyses provide insights into both country-specific factors and the sometimes unexpected similarities among them.

“Little Quilted Vests to Warm Parents' Hearts”: Redefining the Gendered Practice of Filial Piety in Rural North-eastern China

2009 ◽  
Vol 198 ◽  
pp. 348-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lihong Shi
Keyword(s):  
Rural Community ◽  
Adult Children ◽  
Filial Piety ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Elderly Parents ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Practical Support ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Major Factors

AbstractThis article explores the transformation of the gendered practice of filial piety in China, which traditionally places sons at the centre and relegates daughters to a peripheral role within their natal families. Based on my ethnographic fieldwork in a rural community in north-eastern China, this article suggests a transformed opinion on filial piety, considering daughters as more filial, as is vividly expressed by the Chinese saying “A daughter is like a little quilted vest to warm her parents' hearts.” Meanwhile, elderly parents have modified traditional standards of filial practice to encompass a desire for an expression of intimate care, respect and practical support from adult children. Further examination suggests three major factors contributing to the transformation of the gendered practice of filial piety: reinterpreted intergenerational relations, women's increased filial practice to their natal parents, and an increased desire of the elderly for an emotional bond with their children.

scholarly journals Older parents and adult children: Traditional relationship or closeness throug or at distance?

Sociologija ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (suppl. 1) ◽  
pp. 287-305
Author(s):  
Sladjana Dragisic-Labas
Keyword(s):  
Adult Children ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The Other ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Elderly Parents ◽  
Content Analysis Method ◽  
Care Of Elderly ◽  
The One ◽  
Reproductive Activities

A good relationship between older parents and adult children is an important part of active aging. This relationship is being transformed in different ways through all stages of life. Closeness, support and care of elderly parents by children and the other way around of descendants, both children and grandchildren by their parents and grandparents definitely facilitates and reduces the amount of care to be delivered from the community and wider society as such. However, the state often conveys its own part of responsibility to the elderly or the children, whereas the traditional culture presupposes a reciprocal care to be a moral norm, hence we get the so called ?nonsense? situation i.e., overloaded and exhausted adult children or burdened parents on the one side and preserved ?state? of well-being, on the other. In this work, we will consider the relationship between older parents and adult children using the collected data from 52 interviews (with content analysis method applied) conducted with people over 65, from Belgrade. It becomes clear that this relationship marks the everyday life - work, reproductive activities, leisure, health, i.e., the most relevant aspects of our respondents? lives. The so called ?distant closeness? proved to be efficient in Western societies and referring to our research, it is described as desirable but not always feasible. . It is also more preferable for female than for male respondents. The male respondents have higher expectations from their children when it comes to care and help. Sharing of more responsibility over needs of elderly and their children by society, could significantly enable the realization of what we here labelled ?distant closeness?.

scholarly journals The Effects of Social Support on the Psychological Well-Being of Older Parents: A Longitudinal Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 795-796
Author(s):  
Erik Blanco
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Adult Children ◽  
Parental Support ◽  
Psychological Wellbeing ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Positive Feelings ◽  
Negative Feelings ◽  
To Receive

Abstract This study examines whether parental support (the provision of social support by older parents to adult children) and filial support (older parents’ receipt of social support from adult children) influence two orthogonal dimensions of older adults’ psychological wellbeing: positive feelings and negative feelings. This study also highlights the importance of accounting for parental need as a mediator of social support. A longitudinal design is used to examine the effects of social support on the psychological wellbeing of older adults at Wave 6 (1998) and Wave 8 (2004) of the Longitudinal Study of Generations. Parental support significantly increases parents’ positive feelings, which suggests that, when it comes to positive feelings, it is better to give support than to receive it. Filial support findings indicate that older adults with greater level of disability demonstrate a decrease in negative feelings when they received filial support. However, this effect does not hold for older adults with lesser levels of disability, suggesting that, when it comes to older adults’ negative feelings, it is better to receive support (rather than to give it) when parents are in need. Although parental and filial support have the potential to buffer stressful life transitions in old age, most parents wish to remain independent, even in later life, making them reluctant to accept filial support. The parent-adult child relationship is crucial for psychological wellbeing, especially because of increased life expectancy.

Parent–Child Interaction

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haley Kranstuber Horstman ◽  
Alexie Hays ◽  
Ryan Maliski
Keyword(s):  
Private Information ◽  
Parenting Practices ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Parent Child Relationship ◽  
Family Structures ◽  
Parent Child Communication ◽  
Child Relationship ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Meaningful Relationships ◽  
Parent Child

The parent–child relationship is one of the most influential, important, and meaningful relationships in an individual’s life. The communication between parents and children fuels their bond and functions to socialize children (i.e., gender, career and work, relationship values and skills, and health behaviors), provide social support, show affection, make sense of their life experiences, engage in conflict, manage private information, and create a family communication environment. How parents and children manage these functions changes over time as their relationship adapts over the developmental periods of their lives. Mothers and fathers may also respond differently to the changing needs of their children, given the unique relational cultures that typically exist in mother–child versus father–child relationships. Although research on parent–child communication is vast and thorough, the constant changes faced by families in the 21st century—including more diverse family structures—provides ample avenues for future research on this complex relationship. Parent–child communication in diverse families (e.g., divorced/stepfamilies, adoptive, multiracial, LGBTQ, and military families) must account for the complexity of identities and experiences in these families. Further, changes in society such as advances in technology, the aging population, and differing parenting practices are also transforming the parent–child relationship. Because this relationship is a vital social resource for both parents and children throughout their lives, researchers will undoubtedly continue to seek to understand the complexities of this important family dyad.

Of the Family Tree: Congruence on Filial Obligation between Older Parents and Adult Children in Japanese Canadian Families

2010 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen M. Kobayashi ◽  
Laura Funk
Keyword(s):  
Adult Children ◽  
Family Tree ◽  
Filial Obligation ◽  
Soutien Social ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Nous Concluons ◽  
The Family ◽  
Japanese Canadian

RÉSUMÉS’inspirant de l’hypothèse d’enjeu intergénérationelle (Bengtson and Kuypers, 1971), cet’article étudie la congruence et l’in-congruence entre les générations sur l’obligation filiale, et les implications pour l’assistance sociale, entre les parents anciens nisei (la seconde génération) et les enfants adultes de sansei (la troisième génération) dans les familles canadiennes japonaises. À l’aide des données des entretiens semi-structurés avec 100 dyads parent-enfant en la Colombie Britannique, la congruence sur des réponses fermées aux déclarations de valeur (la congruence de degré) et la congruence de contenu des réponses ouvertes sont examinés. Les conclusions montrent que la majorité des dyads parent-enfant indique congruence globale (degré et contenu) en ligne directe d’obligation, surtout lorsqu’un parent est féminin, veuf, ou dont l’état de santé est mauvaise ou passable. Nous concluons que, malgré des expériences sensiblement différentes dans le cours de la vie et des processus d’acculturation différents, les deux générations continuent de considérer l’obligation filiale comme importante. Ces conclusions sont discutées quant aux implications pour les échanges de soutien social, étant donné une évaluation continue de l’obligation filiale en Asie post-immigrant (né en Amérique du Nord) et familles immigrantes.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document