Normative, Structural, and Individual Factors that Predispose Adult Children to Provide Social Support to Their Elderly Parents

Abstract

This study is based on a face-to-face survey, conducted in 2009, with a representative sample of adults who were aged 45 years or above, living in the urban area of Santiago, Chile. This survey examined the exchange network between adults and their elderly parents, focusing on two of the main explanatory approaches to supportive family interrelations. That is, the norms of filial obligation and reciprocity. The article also investigates factors associated with the structure of needs and opportunities, as well as the family structures of the adult children and their parents. By estimating logistic regression models with cluster-robust standard errors the reciprocity norm is found to be significant, whereas that for filial obligation is not. The estimated models show that receiving support from the parent is one of the main factors that predisposes the adult child to the provision of parental support. That is, such action is favored by incorporation in a network of reciprocal exchanges. Thus, intergenerational ties work in two directions: parents request help from their children but also give them help. The norm of filial obligation, on the other hand, is only significant in the case of women.

Scoping Review: Intergenerational Resource Transfer and Possible Enabling Factors

“…There was high consistency in findings on the influence of children's financial resources on transfers to parents. Children's income or financial resources were positively associated with financial transfers [5,13,25,45,51,58,61,72], instrumental transfers [19,32,45], emotional transfers [45], and overall support [32]. Brandt (2013) [19] revealed that the higher the children's income, the more likely children provided help of all types to parents.…”

“…Many studies investigated the relationship between the older generation's demographic factors (e.g., age, gender, marital status, education) and upward transfers from the younger generation. Most studies suggest that transfer receivers' age was positively related to financial transfers [1,2,11,15,51,67,78], instrumental transfers [1,2,5,15,19,23,28,35,37,43,51], emotional transfers [2,67,68], and overall transfers [27,31,48,58,62,75]. However, Albuquerque (2014) [10] found little impact of age on the probability of older people's receiving money.…”

Patterns and Predictors of Taiwanese Adult Children’s Intergenerational Exchanges Before and After Economic Stagnation

“…Answer options ranged from 1 ( not very well ) to 5 ( very well ). Considering the proportion of those with two surviving parents was less than three-fourths, getting along well with their father or mother was viewed as emotional closeness (very well, so well, well) and other options (neither well nor poorly, poorly) were viewed as non-emotional closeness (Lorca & Ponce, 2015).…”

“…Most Western studies indicate the prominence of geographic proximity and emotional closeness (Hogan et al, 1993; Schwarz, Trommsdorff, Albert, & Mayer, 2005) but do not take into account the role attitudes toward filial piety play in affecting intergenerational transfer due to the lack of cultural norms. A study indicated that the non-significant association between the filial obligation norm and support provided to parents in the Latin American population may be attributable to the fact that attitudes of filial obligation lose influence in more individualized societies (Lorca & Ponce, 2015).…”

“…In Confucian culture, which emphasizes harmony and cohesiveness among individuals, the parent-child relationship in Asia may have a stronger influence on intergenerational exchange than in Western countries. Cultural influence on determinants of support exchange was discussed by Lorca and Ponce (2015). Aging might account for the close association of emotional closeness with various intergenerational exchange patterns in 2016 but not in 2006.…”