Residential proximity of nearest child and older adults’ receipts of informal support transfers in Barbados

Abstract

This study assesses the probability that an older person in Bridgetown, Barbados receives financial, functional and/or material support from their adult children according to the proximity of their nearest child, adjusting for demographic and socio-economic factors. As in many countries of the developing world, older Barbadians receive much of their support from adult children. Population ageing, smaller family sizes and high rates of out-migration may be placing stress on systems of formal and informal support within the country. Yet, very little research has examined determinants of support within the Caribbean let alone Barbados, one of the most rapidly ageing countries in the region. Data (N = 1,248) come from the 2000 Pan American Health Organization Survey on Health, Well-being and Ageing in Latin America and the Caribbean (SABE). Multivariate logistic regression analyses highlight the overwhelming importance of co-residence in the receipt of informal support transfers. Although there is a lower probability of receiving support as distance to nearest child increases, several indicators of vulnerability, such as having a disability, increases support probabilities among those whose nearest children live outside the neighbourhood. The results have implications for current and future cohorts of older adults in the region given the combination of declining fertility, persistent migration and population ageing within a broader context of social protection systems across the region.

Offspring Migration and Parents' Emotional and Psychological Well‐being in Mexico

“…Yet how migration affects relationships between parents and children likely depends on the type of support considered and the destination of migrant children. On the one hand, parents are more likely to receive instrumental support when children reside within the same community or country compared to when offspring live abroad (Quashie & Zimmer, 2013; Zimmer, Rada, & Stoica, 2014). However, children’s migration, especially when labor-related, may induce a greater likelihood of material and financial support to parents than domestic migration.…”

Social Welfare and Remittances to Older Adults in Two Caribbean Cities

“…Theoretically, health and physical vulnerabilities require personal and frequent support, for which closer proximity is ideal. Given that intergenerational co‐residence is common in the Caribbean, and is often the ideal living arrangement for support transfers (UN, ; Quashie and Zimmer, ), the availability of a co‐resident child or other household members, as potential sources of support, may reduce parents' likelihood of receiving remittances. Thus, the likelihood that any migrant child will remit is conditioned by the family size and structure including the availability of siblings and their proximity to their parents in the country of origin.…”

Who Supports Whom? Gender and Intergenerational Transfers in Post-Industrial Barbados

“…Therefore, non-coresident children may support their parents if they receive economic or other support prior to, during and in their current residence outside of the household (Lillard and Willis 1997;Cong and Silverstein 2011). Moreover, parents have been shown to receive support from their non-coresident children when in vulnerable positions such as disability and declining health (Rogerson et al 1997;Quashie and Zimmer 2013).…”

“…While existing research on family support within Latin America and the Caribbean tends to focus on upward flows of support (DeVos et al 2004;Quashie and Zimmer 2013; with the exception of Saad 2005), this study further explores the determinants of older adults' active involvement in providing support to their children. Additionally, emphasis is placed on assessing the role of gender in shaping patterns of bidirectional support transfers.…”