Intergenerational Exchange of Resources and Elderly Support in Rural China

Abstract

This study examines how parental investments on children affect elderly support, and how this effect is contingent on emotional closeness or parental authority. Data collected from 770 elderly parents residing in rural China were analyzed. We gathered dichotomous data for (a) whether parents invested on their children via financial or instrumental means (i.e., parental investments) and (b) whether parents reported closeness to their children (i.e., emotional closeness) and whether children respected them (i.e., parental authority). We examined the relation between these variables and children's elderly support (financial, instrumental, and emotional). We tested models in two ways, one examining the direct effect of investments, and another testing the interactions between investments and closeness or authority. We first found that investments were not directly associated with elderly support, although the closeness and authority were. Additionally, the association between investments and support was found within parents who reported authority or closeness with their children.

Comparing same- and different-sex relationship dynamics: Experiences of young adults in Taiwan

“…More than in Western countries, studies of marriage formation in East Asia have emphasized parental influences (Raymo et al 2015). Although the tradition of arranging marriages for their children has declined, East Asian parents continue to facilitate their children's marriages by providing monetary support to children when they enter marriage (Lin and Pei 2016) or by becoming involved in children's mate selection (Wang and Chen 2017). In Taiwan, parental expectations still exert some degree of influence on children's choice of mate, as well as affect children's perceptions of their relationship quality (Chen and Chen 2014;Tsay and Wu 2006).…”

Children's education and their financial transfers to ageing parents in rural China: mothers and fathers’ strategic advantages in enforcing reciprocity

“…The theoretical perspectives on financial transfers from adult children to parents mainly fall into one of the following several categories or their variants, including: the altruism perspective; the reciprocity/strategic investment perspective wherein adult children repay parents’ earlier investments in their children; and the intergenerational bonds and solidarity perspective wherein emotional closeness and/or filial piety prompt upward financial transfers. Rural Chinese families are characterised by strong intergenerational solidarity, with the intense flow of intergenerational support from younger to older generations (Lin and Pei, 2016). Parental investment in a child's education occurs much earlier in time than adult children's financial transfers to older parents.…”

“…Despite the evidence for altruism as a motivation, exchange motivations, such as reciprocity, also explain adult children's financial transfers to their older parents. Due to the decline in parental power, modernisation, rural-to-urban migration, and the trend towards individualism, the meaning of filial piety in China has changed from an unconditional duty of adult children to a sense of intergenerational reciprocity: a child's filial obligations are conditional on older parents’ early support of them, such as the earlier parental educational investment in children (Yan, 2003; Cheung and Kwan, 2009; Lin and Pei, 2016). From the older parents’ perspective, parents invest financially in their children and children are expected to provide informal insurance in times of need in the future (Chou, 2008; Zheng, 2013).…”

“…Parents also strategically invest in selected children to maximise financial returns from children (Yan, 2003; Cong and Silverstein, 2011; Lin and Pei, 2016). Intra-household resources are distributed unequally among siblings as a result of the family decision process, which evaluates children's innate abilities and other characteristics that would affect their potential contributions to the family, such as children's gender in the patrilineal family system (Chu et al ., 2007; Zheng, 2013).…”

“…Filial responsibilities in China highlight the devotion of children to their older parents and subordination of personal interest to intergenerational solidarity (Guo et al ., 2012). In rural China, the major direction of intergenerational support is still from younger to older generations, suggesting that rural Chinese families continue to be characterised by strong intergenerational solidarity (Lin and Pei, 2016). Studies have shown that parents who are emotionally close to their children and who promote the norm of filial obligation tend to receive more support from their children (Silverstein et al ., 1995, 2006; Lin and Yi, 2011; Lin and Pei, 2016).…”