THE IMPACT OF LIVING ARRANGEMENTS OF OLDER PEOPLE ON INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSFERS FROM THEIR ADULT CHILDREN IN CHINA

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
QINGYUAN XUE ◽  
NOPPHOL WITVORAPONG

Based on three waves of the nationally representative survey conducted in 2005, 2008-2009, and 2011-2012, this study investigates the effect of living arrangements on intergenerational transfers in China. Outcomes of interest include monetary transfers, contact, informal care, and emotional support that adult children provide to older parents. Both actual living arrangements and the discrepancy between actual and preferred living arrangements are considered. Endogeneity bias is accounted for through fixed-effects instrumental-variable regression modeling. It is found that co-residence serves as a substitute for monetary transfers and is positively associated with the probability that parents would receive contact, informal care and emotional support from adult children. Living alone with children in the same city is positively associated with the receipt of monetary transfers and contact by older parents but is not statistically related to the other two outcomes. There is an expressed desire for independent living among older people, which impacts transfer behaviors in a complex manner. This study provides a better understanding of the role of the family amidst ongoing social security reforms in China.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Yazhen Yang ◽  
Maria Evandrou ◽  
Athina Vlachantoni

Abstract Research to-date has examined the impact of intergenerational support in terms of isolated types of support, or at one point in time, failing to provide strong evidence of the complex effect of support on older persons’ wellbeing. Using the Harmonised China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011, 2013 and 2015), this paper investigates the impact of older people's living arrangements and intergenerational support provision/receipt on their physical and psychological wellbeing, focusing on rural–urban differences. The results show that receiving economic support from one's adult children was a stronger predictor for higher life satisfaction among rural residents compared to urban residents, while grandchild care provision was an important determinant for poor life satisfaction only for urban residents. Having weekly in-person and distant contact with one's adult children reduced the risk of depression in both rural and urban residents. Older women were more likely than men to receive support and to have contact with adult children, but also to report poor functional status and depression. The paper shows that it is important to improve the level of public economic transfers and public social care towards vulnerable older people in rural areas, and more emphasis should be placed on improving the psychological wellbeing of urban older residents, such as with the early diagnosis of depression.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 796-796
Author(s):  
Yazhen Yang ◽  
Maria Evandrou ◽  
Athina Vlachantoni

Abstract Research to-date has examined the impact of intergenerational support in terms of isolated types of support, or at one point in time, failing to provide strong evidence of the complex effect of support on older persons’ wellbeing. Using the Harmonised China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011, 2013 and 2015), this paper investigates the impact of older people’s living arrangements and intergenerational support provision/ receipt on their physical and psychological wellbeing, focusing on rural/ urban differences. The results show that receiving economic support from one’s adult children was a stronger predictor for higher life satisfaction among older rural residents compared to those in urban areas, while grandchild care provision was an important determinant for poor life satisfaction only for older urban residents. Receiving informal care from one’s adult children was associated with a poor (I)ADL functional status and with depressive symptoms among older rural people. Meanwhile, having weekly in-person and distant contact reduced the risk of depression among older people in both rural and urban areas. The paper shows that it is important to improve the level of public economic transfers and public social care towards vulnerable older people in rural areas, and more emphasis should be placed on improving the psychological well-being of urban older residents, such as with the early diagnosis of depression.


2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
NATALIA TOLKACHEVA ◽  
MARJOLEIN BROESE VAN GROENOU ◽  
ALICE DE BOER ◽  
THEO VAN TILBURG

ABSTRACTPrevious research on the care-giver burden experienced by adult children has typically focused on the adult child and parent dyad. This study uses information on multiple informal care-givers and examines how characteristics of the informal care-giving network affect the adult child's care-giver burden. In 2007, 602 Dutch care-givers who were assisting their older parents reported on parental and personal characteristics, care activities, experienced burden and characteristics of other informal care-givers. A path model was applied to assess the relative impact of the informal care-giving network characteristics on the care-giver burden. An adult child experienced lower care-giver burden when the informal care-giving network size was larger, when more types of tasks were shared across the network, when care was shared for a longer period, and when the adult child had no disagreements with the other members of the network. Considering that the need for care of older parents is growing, being in an informal care-giving network will be of increasing benefit for adult children involved in long-term care. More care-givers will turn into managers of care, as they increasingly have to organise the sharing of care among informal helpers and cope with disagreements among the members of the network.


2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 811-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHN KNODEL ◽  
JIRAPORN KESPICHAYAWATTANA ◽  
CHANPEN SAENGTIENCHAI ◽  
SUVINEE WIWATWANICH

ABSTRACTThe consequences of adult children's migration from rural areas for older parents who remain behind are keenly debated. While the mass media and international advocacy organisations favour an ‘alarmist’ view of desertion, the academic literature makes more sanguine assessments using the ‘household strategy’ and ‘modified extended family’ perspectives. We examine the relationship between the migration of adult children and various dimensions of older parents' wellbeing in Thailand using evidence from a survey that focused on the issues. The results provide little support for the alarmist view, but instead suggest that parents and adult children adapt to the social and economic changes associated with development in ways not necessarily detrimental to intergenerational relations. The migration of children, especially to urban areas, often benefits parents' material support while the recent spread of cell phones has radically increased their ability to maintain social contact. Nevertheless, changing living arrangements through increased migration and the smaller family sizes of the youngest age groups of older people pose serious challenges for aspects of filial support, especially at advanced ages when chronic illness and frailty require long-term personal care. Dealing with this emerging situation in a context of social, economic and technological change is among the most critical issues facing those concerned with the implications of rapid population ageing in Thailand and elsewhere.


2000 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
MAKOTO KONO

In Japan the ideology of familism has reproduced patriarchal family values. It successfully retained family centred welfare provision and gender inequality in informal care work, and ensured formal care services were residual. However, the advancement of modernisation has weakened the effectiveness of the informal care sector, and the demand for care has increased steadily along with the ageing of the population. Moreover, informal care based on the self-sacrifice of family carers tends to be less popular. This tendency is especially evident in the opinions of the younger generation and females. Furthermore, structural shifts in their working circumstances, particularly of females, makes the continuation of the patriarchal approach to informal care more difficult. In the field of the care of older people, as part of the strategy for restructuring the Japanese welfare system, the emphasis is now more on market activities, which is in accord with the assumptions underlying ‘the residual welfare model of social policy’ (Titmuss, 1974).


2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 431-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
VICTORIA HOSEGOOD ◽  
IAN M. TIMÆUS

This paper examines changes in households with older people in a northern rural area of KwaZulu Natal province, South Africa, between January 2000 and January 2002. The focus is the impact of adult deaths, especially those from AIDS, on the living arrangements of older people. The longitudinal data are from the Africa Centre Demographic Information System. In 2000, 3,657 older people (women aged 60 years or older, men 65 years or older) were resident in the area, and 3,124 households had at least one older member. The majority (87%) of older people lived in three-generation households. Households with older people were significantly poorer, more likely to be headed by a woman, and in homesteads with poorer quality infrastructure than households without older members. By January 2002, 316 (8%) of the older people in the sample had died. Of all the households with an older person, 12 per cent experienced at least one adult death from AIDS. The paper shows that older people, particularly those living alone or with children in the absence of other adults, were living in the poorest households. They were also coping with an increasing burden of young adult deaths, the majority of which were attributable to AIDS.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioanna Zygouri ◽  
Fiona Cowdell ◽  
Avraam Ploumis ◽  
Mary Gouva ◽  
Stefanos Mantzoukas

Abstract Background and purpose The caregiving’s impact on informal carers’ quality of life and gender-based stereotypes make older individuals’ informal care a complex process for which our knowledge is still limited. The purpose of this review is to identify how gender relates to informal carers’ experiences of providing care for people aged 60 years and over with mental and physical health needs by synthesising the available empirical data published between 2000 to 2020. Design and methods The systematic method for reviewing and synthesising qualitative data was performed using the PRISMA checklist and ENTREQ statement. The CASP tool was used to examine the quality of the included papers. Thematic synthesis was used as the methodological framework. Results This review produced two analytical themes, the impact of gender on the caregivers’ labour and negotiating gender identity with self, society, and cultural norms. While informal caregivers share motivators, a linkage between traditional gender stereotypes impacts caregiving burden and coping strategies. Informal carers’ experiences entail a constant pursuit of self-agency after acquiring the caregiver role. Cultural values and their intersection with gender appear to influence caregivers’ healthy adjustment into their new caregiving identities. The flexibility to move beyond gender boundaries could mediate caregivers’ negotiations between self and society on developing their new caregiving identity. Providing intensive informal primary care to older people affects both men’s and women’s mental and physical health. Gender ideals of the feminine nurturing role further disadvantage women as they determine the caregiving arrangements, the strategies and resources to sustain the caring burden, and the adaptability to experience their new caregiving role positively. Men appear more flexible to debate their hegemonic masculinity and defend their existence in the caregiving role. Conclusion and implications Transgressing gender lines and expanding gender possibilities can ease the caregiving burden and strengthen caregivers coping potentials. Health professionals can empower informal careers to challenge gender binaries and expand gender possibilities by intentionally injecting the language of diversity in caring information and caring processes. The review findings outline a path for research on gender identity development in older people’s care.


Author(s):  
Anthony T. Lo Sasso ◽  
Richard W. Johnson

Despite the policy importance, particularly as society ages, little is known about the impact of informal care on nursing home admissions. This paper jointly models the receipt of regular help from adult children and subsequent nursing home care, using data from the Study of Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD). Results indicate that frequent help from children with basic personal care reduces the likelihood of nursing home use over a subsequent two-year period by about 60% for disabled Americans age 70 and older. However, we found no significant reduction in nursing home admissions when help was measured more broadly to include assistance with chores and errands.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S636-S636
Author(s):  
Matthew Pichiello ◽  
Meghan McDarby ◽  
Elissa K Kozlov ◽  
Brian Carpenter

Abstract Adult children often help older parents make medical decisions when their health is compromised. To do so in a way that respects parent values requires children to know how their parent views health states and consequent quality of life. The current study compared older parent and adult child valuations of quality of life in different health contexts. Families consisted of older parents (n = 37) and their adult children (n = 66). Parents rated perceived quality of life in 14 compromised health states on a scale from 1 (difficult but acceptable) to 5 (not worth living). Children estimated how their parent responded to each health state, yielding an index of their knowledge of parent perceptions. Overall, parents described all compromised health states as less acceptable than adult children thought they would, t(99) = 2.19, p < .05. Notably, parents believed situations that caused financial or emotional burden to their family were much less acceptable than their children estimated. Children were more knowledgeable about parent valuations for more extreme circumstances, such as living with a feeding tube. Within families, children demonstrated only slight knowledge about parent quality of life valuations (kappa = .081). Across the entire sample of families, there was a broad range of knowledge (kappas = -.181 – .351), but at best, knowledge was still only fair. Results from this study suggest that adult children may underestimate the impact of compromised health states on parent estimations of quality of life, which could affect collaborations on healthcare decisions.


Author(s):  
Pip Coore

In response to the ageing population, the need for adult children to care for their older parents is increasing. As reliance on adult children to provide care increases, family agreements are increasingly being entered into. Family agreements are, in essence, arrangements whereby an older parent transfers property to their adult child in exchange for a promise of ‘care for life’. This chapter identifies ways in which the law has responded to population ageing and outlines areas that require further attention. In particular, this chapter explores the emergence of family agreements to better understand whether (if at all) they adequately protect older people and their caregiving adult children from harmful outcomes.


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