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Factors Associated with Intergenerational Social Support among Older Adults across the World

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Abstract

There has been an increasing interest among social scientists with regard to the role of socioeconomic, demographic, and cultural situations on intergenerational financial, help and care transfers in society. With the rapid pace of socioeconomic development, both populations and societies in transition in many parts of the world, traditional values and family dynamics are being affected. Although some researchers have attempted to explore the changing pattern of intergenerational transfers for specific geographical locations, there has been no global comparison yet made due either to an inadequate data set or its total lack. Utilising the 2007 Global Ageing Survey (GLAS), this study attempts to examine important determinants of financial transfers as well as help and care transfers among individuals aged between 40 and 79 years living across 21 countries and territories in five major regions of the world. In the present study, it has been found that a respondent’s age, gender, household size, health appraisal, education, employment status, marital status, contact between generations and geographical location are key factors affecting the intergenerational support (financial, help and care). Analyses have been made at regional and country levels providing robust and reliable estimates. This enables us to reach more effective conclusions on populations overall as well as on specific geographical settings. Some policy recommendations and future research directions are put forward in the last part of this paper.

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Acknowledgments

This research arises as a part of the strategic alliance between the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing and the HSBC Bank Plc to promote the understanding of ageing issues across the globe. Author gratefully acknowledges the financial support of HSBC to carry out research at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, University of Oxford, UK. The author is indebted to Dr. George W. Lesson and Professor Sarah Harper for their invaluable support during the stage of conducting the research. Author is also thankful to Helen Findlay of Sir William Beveridge Foundation for her support in making comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Finally, special thanks go to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.

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  1. Department of Economics and International Development, The Business School, Middlesex University, London, NW4 4BT, UK

    Hafiz T. A. Khan

  2. The Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX2 6PR, UK

    Hafiz T. A. Khan

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Khan, H.T.A. Factors Associated with Intergenerational Social Support among Older Adults across the World. Ageing Int 39, 289–326 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-013-9191-6

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