scholarly journals Intimacy and Intergenerational Relations in Rural China

Sociology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 1034-1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jieyu Liu
Keyword(s):  
Adult Children ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Qualitative Difference ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Intergenerational Relations ◽  
Intimate Relationship ◽  
And Gender

This article applies the concept of intimacy to examine relationships between adult children and their parents in rural China – an area which has been predominantly located in an obligatory framework. I reveal a qualitative difference in support between relationships built on intimate ties and those bound by duty and obligation. A unilateral emphasis on obligation-based relationships can deprive both the parent and adult child generations of agency and autonomy, which can be disempowering for both. The complex relations between intimacy and obligation are the product of local socio-economic circumstances and gender norms. Although traditional patrilineal and patrilocal culture excludes married daughters from the filial discourse surrounding their own parents, they are often considered to have the most intimate relationship with their parents. Paradoxically, the practices of intimacy between aged parents and their married daughters strengthen the natal ties that facilitate modifications to patrilocal and patrilineal customs.

scholarly journals The Enduring Strength of Biology and Gender: Care for Aging Parents Among Adult Children

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 908-908
Author(s):  
Sarah Patterson ◽  
Robert Schoeni ◽  
Vicki Freedman ◽  
Judith Seltzer
Keyword(s):  
Adult Children ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Filial Obligation ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Aging Parents ◽  
The Social ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
And Gender

Abstract Family complexity in the form of step-relationships are increasing across cohorts. Filial obligation, or the social norm that adult children should care for aging parents, are generally weaker in stepfamilies. Further, gender continues to be a main axis of stratification of who provides care within families. Taken together, we test whether biological versus step ties, the gender of the adult child, and the interaction between these two factors are associated with helping aging parents (ages 65 and older) with functional or health limitation based care needs. We use Round 5 (2015) of the National Health and Aging Trends Study. Results illustrate the enduring strength of both biological and gendered ties, with biological daughters being the most likely to help an aging parent, followed by biological sons, step-daughters, and lastly step-sons. This pattern holds even when we control for important characteristics of both the adult child and the care receiver. As families become more complex, these findings could mean that gaps in unmet care needs will emerge, especially for older adults who only have stepchildren.

Adult child migration and elderly parental health in rural China

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 677-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Chang ◽  
Yaojiang Shi ◽  
Hongmei Yi ◽  
Natalie Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Adult Children ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Elderly Parents ◽  
Care For The Elderly ◽  
Child Migration ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of adult children migration on the health status of elderly parents. Increased labor migration in developing countries that lack adequate social security systems and institutionalized care for the elderly is a phenomenon that is important to understand. When their adult children go away to work, it is not clear what effect there will be on “left-behind” elderly parents. Design/methodology/approach This study employs nearly nationally representative data from five provinces, 25 counties, 101 villages and 2,000 households, collected from two waves of data in 2007 and 2011. This sample comprises a subset of households which include both elderly individuals (above 60 years old) and their grown (working-aged) children in order to estimate the impact of adult child migration on the health of elderly parents in rural China. Findings This study finds that adult child migration has a significant positive impact on the health of elderly family members. Practical implications These findings are consistent with the explanation that migration raises family resources, which in turn may contribute to better health outcomes for elderly household members. Originality/value This is the first paper to attempt to identify the relationship between household migration and the health of elderly parents within the Chinese context.

The Experience of Adult Children Caregiving for Aging Parents

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-98
Author(s):  
Kimberly Conway
Keyword(s):  
Adult Children ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Loved One ◽  
Aging Parents ◽  
Child Caregivers ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological ◽  
Caregiver Group

When the normal progression of life for an aging person is interrupted by a decline in physical and or mental abilities, adult children are often suddenly faced with assuming care of their parent(s). Currently, adult child caregivers of aging parents work up to 100 hours per month at caregiving. Most existing literature is focused on informal caregivers, which can consist of spouses, relatives, and friends’ caregiving for persons with debilitating illnesses. Despite the amount of time dedicated to parental caregiving, little is known about the experience of this exclusive caregiver group. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the experience of adult children caregiving for aging parents at any stage of health. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used to interview six daughters and one daughter-in-law. Themes were identified and presented through the use of narratives and poetry. The participants expressed they felt unprepared for caregiving and their culture had a direct impact on the expectations of caregiving. A myriad of unpleasant emotions and loss were voiced, yet their outlooks remained extremely positive. The overall health of adult child caregivers needs to be supported to prepare them for what lies ahead with caregiving. Caregivers report their loved one(s) required several hospitalizations, which lead to performing medical/nursing tasks at home. Nursing then has a unique opportunity during discharge preparation, to identify those who need community, state, and faith-based services. Replication is needed to address the limitation of the number of participants, ethnic, and gender diversity.

Filial piety and intergenerational ambivalence among mother–adult child dyads in rural China

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (12) ◽  
pp. 2695-2710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiuju Guo ◽  
Xiang Gao ◽  
Fei Sun ◽  
Nan Feng
Keyword(s):  
Adult Children ◽  
Filial Piety ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Intergenerational Relationships ◽  
Elderly Parents ◽  
Intergenerational Ambivalence ◽  
Overall Evaluation ◽  
Positive Feelings ◽  
Negative Feelings

AbstractThis study examines the relationship between filial piety (adult children's filial behaviours and attitudes as well as elderly mothers’ overall evaluation of children's filial piety) and elderly mothers’ reports of intergenerational ambivalence (positive feelings, negative feelings and combined ambivalence) in rural China. We analysed the data from a survey in 2016 covering 2,203 adult children and 802 elderly mothers in Sichuan Province using a two-level mixed-effects modelling analysis. The results indicate that most components of filial piety are associated with mothers’ ambivalence, in that less ambivalence was reported by mothers when their adult children provided more emotional support to, had less conflict with and were evaluated as more filial by their mothers. Interestingly, mothers demonstrated greater positive feelings when their children were more filial in behaviour and attitude, but they also reported greater negative feelings and ambivalence when their children were more obedient, implying that absolute obedience to elderly parents might no longer be accepted by people. These findings may provide further understanding about the correlation between the culture of filial piety and intergenerational relationships in rural China.

Providing instrumental support to older parents of multi-child families in China: are there different within-family patterns?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Jia Chen ◽  
Xiaochen Zhou ◽  
Nan Lu
Keyword(s):  
Adult Children ◽  
Latent Profile Analysis ◽  
Profile Analysis ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Instrumental Support ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Older Mothers ◽  
Family Patterns ◽  
Using Data

Abstract Older parents in China rely heavily on their adult children for instrumental assistance. In different multi-child families, multiple offspring may co-operate in providing instrumental support to older parents in distinct ways in terms of how much support they provide on average and how much differentiation exists between them when they provide such support within a family. We aimed to identify different within-family patterns in relation to multiple offspring's instrumental support to an older parent in Chinese multi-child families, and to investigate potential predictors for different within-family patterns. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (2016), we had a working sample of 5,790 older adults aged 60+ (mean = 68.54, standard deviation = 6.60). We employed latent profile analysis (LPA) to classify within-family patterns and multinomial logistic regression to investigate predictors. Our findings identified three within-family patterns: dissociated (59.10%), highly differentiated (29.60%) and united-filial (11.30%). Older parents in the highly differentiated families tended to be older, mothers, divorced/widowed and to have poorer physical health compared to their counterparts in the dissociated families. In contrast, the composition characteristics of multiple adult children played more important roles in determining the united-filial within-family pattern. The united-filial families were more likely to have fewer adult children, at least one adult daughter and at least one co-residing adult child.

scholarly journals Special Symposium: Social and gender norms and violence against children: exploring their role and strategies for prevention

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 815-819
Author(s):  
Anjalee Kohli ◽  
Ni Luh Putu Maitra Agastya ◽  
Ben Cislaghi ◽  
Marie-Celine Schulte
Keyword(s):  
Gender Norms ◽  
Violence Against Children ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Special Symposium

Mid-Life Parental Support for Adult Children in New Zealand

2003 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Hillcoat-Nallétamby ◽  
A. Dharmalingam
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Adult Children ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Parental Support ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Mature Adult ◽  
Transitions To Adulthood ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Ageing Parents

Research often focuses on exchanges of help between mature adult children and ageing parents, but not between young adults and parents. As transitions to adulthood become more complex, and mid-life is increasingly associated with competing roles, this article examines factors influencing the likelihood that a mid-life parent continues to support an adult child who has left home. Empirical analysis uses data from New Zealand's 1997 `Transactions in the Mid-life Family' survey. Parents continue to support their child, but the factors influencing the flow of help vary by type of help. A child's, but not a parent's age, and the gender of both, have a significant influence on the provision of help, and although infrequent contact and long distances make exchanges more difficult, they do not completely inhibit them.

Bargaining over Remittances in Tajik Extended Families

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-250
Author(s):  
Sabiha Yeasmin Rosy ◽  
Fatemeh Nejati
Keyword(s):  
International Migration ◽  
Labor Migration ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Transnational Families ◽  
Age And Gender ◽  
Extended Families ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Gender Specific

Abstract This study investigates the impact of male labor migration upon wives living among their husbands’ extended families in Tajikistan. It studies the risks and choices available to such wives in bargaining for remittances, with a particular focus on the risks that daughters-in-law (kelin in Tajik) undertake when negotiating remittances with their mothers-in-law. This paper explores age and gender-specific norms in Tajik transnational families and their minimal opportunities for kelins to bargain and negotiate the risks associated with making “claims” on remittances by using Deniz Kandiyoti’s “patriarchal bargain” and Bina Agarwal’s household bargain framework, as well as extensive fieldwork conducted in Tajikistan. The study concludes that international migration and remittances have had a complex impact on gender norms in Tajikistan, with emerging new forms of passive negotiation by kelins unlikely to undermine patriarchal gender norms in their favor.

Being an adult child of an elderly person living in a nursing home: a phenomenological approach to the Turkish case

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pelin Önder Erol ◽  
Elif Gün
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Home ◽  
Adult Children ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Filial Piety ◽  
Elderly Person ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Elderly Parents ◽  
Wide Range

Purpose A long-established cultural norm of filial piety may cause ambivalent feelings for adult children who are considered the primary caregivers for their elderly parents in Turkish culture, and whose parents have been placed into nursing homes. The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight to the lived experiences of adult children of elderly people living in a nursing home in Turkey. Design/methodology/approach Drawing upon dramaturgical theory and phenomenological methodology, the authors conducted interviews with ten adult children whose elderly parents had been admitted to a nursing home in Izmir, Turkey. Multi-stage purposeful random sampling was used as the sampling scheme. Thematic analysis was performed to interpret the data. Findings Three themes emerged from the data: adult children’s coping strategies, the ways in which the adult children rationalize their decisions, and the ways in which the adult children manage the placement process. The interviews revealed that the adult children often feel like social outcasts and experience a wide range of difficulties, including social pressures, their own inner dilemmas, and negotiations with their elderly parents. Originality/value An exploration for the lived experiences of adult children relating to the nursing home placement of their elderly parents contributes an insight about the well-established cultural norms that produce feelings of ambivalence.

scholarly journals Ever more parents in polyamorous families: A new materialist typology of parenting practices and division of work

Sexualities ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 136346072110374
Author(s):  
Cornelia Schadler
Keyword(s):  
Gender Roles ◽  
Parenting Practices ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Family Structures ◽  
Traditional Family ◽  
Standard Family ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Family Models

An analysis of parents that are a part of polyamorous networks—networks of three, four, or even more residential or highly available parents—shows three types of parenting practices: poly-nuclear, hierarchical, and egalitarian parenting. Especially, the hierarchical and egalitarian parenting practices show novel divisions of care work and a transgression of gender norms. However, in-depth new materialist analysis of qualitative interviews also shows how parents are, in specific situations, pushed toward standard family models and thus unintentionally maintain traditional family structures and gender roles.

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