Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Differences in expectations and patterns of informal support for older persons in Hong Kong: Modification to filial piety

  • Professional Issues: Research Findings
  • Published:
Ageing International Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Informal care provided by family has been the cornerstone for older persons in Hong Kong. Changes in the structure of Hong Kong family alter this supportive function, and changes in traditional filial piety values affect the nature of the care and support provided. This proposition was investigated by a quantitative study involving structural survey interviews of 390 older persons in Hong Kong. The findings show that there are discrepancies between expected and actual caring functions. Living arrangements and geographical proximity affect the needs for and provision of informal support. Financial support has compensated for inadequate personal care by adult children. There is evidence to show that informal support for the older persons is changing. Traditional Confucian filial piety is undergoing modification, perhaps erosion, implying ongoing changes in intergenerational relations in this modernized Asian society.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aboderin, I. (2003). Modernization and economic strain: The impact of social change on material family support for older people in Ghana. In V.L. Bengston and A. Lowenstein (Eds.). Global aging and challenges to families (pp.284–304). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan, A.C.M. (1997). Filial scale for Chinese elderly. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan, A.C.M. (1999). The social and economic consequences of ageing in Asia. Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science, 27(2), 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chi, I. and Chow, N. (1997). Housing and family care for the elderly in Hong Kong. Ageing International, Winter/Spring, 65–77.

  • Chow, N.W.S. (1983). The Chinese family and the support of the elderly in Hong Kong. The Gerontologist, 23(6), 584–588.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow, N.W.S. (1990). Ageing in Hong Kong. In B.K.P. Leung (Ed.), Social issues in Hong Kong (pp.164–177). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow, N.W.S. (1992a). Family care of the elderly in Hong Kong. In J.L. Kosberg (Ed.), Family care of the older persons: Social and cultural changes (pp.123–137). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow, N.W.S. (1992b). Hong Kong: Community care for elderly people. In D.R. Phillips (Ed.), Ageing in East and South-east Asia (pp. 65–76). London: Edward Arnold.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow, N.W.S. (1993). Public assistance and the poverty line in Hong Kong. Journal of Social Sciences, 1(1), 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow, N.W.S. (1997). The policy implications of the changing role and status of the elderly in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: The University of Hong Kong Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow, N.W.S. (2000). Ageing in Hong Kong. In D.R. Phillips (Ed.), Ageing in the Asia-Pacific Region (pp. 158–173). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow, N.W.S. (2001). The practice of filial piety among the Chinese in Hong Kong. In I. Chi, N.L. Chappell, & J. Lubben (Eds.), Elderly Chinese in Pacific Rim countries: Social support and integration (pp. 125–136). Hong Kong: The Hong Kong University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow, N.W.S., & Kwan, A. Y. H. (1986). A study of the changing life-style of the elderly in low income families in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Writers’ & Publishers

    Google Scholar 

  • DaVanzo, J., & Chan, A. (1994). Living arrangement of older Malaysians: Who co-resides with their adult children? Demography, 31(1), 95–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eun, K.-S. (2003). Changing roles of the family and state for elderly care. In V.L. Bengton, & A. Lowenstein (Eds.). Global aging and challenges to families (pp.253–271). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ho, D.Y.F. (1996). Filial piety and its psychological consequences. In M.H. Bond (Ed.), Handbook of Chinese psychology (pp. 155–165). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hsu, F.L.K. (1971). Filial piety in Japan and China: Borrowing, variation, and significance. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 2, 67–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Ikels, C. (1983). Aging and adaptation: Chinese in Hong Kong and the United States. Connecticut: Archon Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ikels, C. (1989). Becoming a human being in theory and practice: Chinese views of human development. In D. Kertzer & K.W. Schaie (Eds.), Age structuring in comparative perspective (pp. 109–134). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, A.E. (1998). Over the hills and far away: Distance as a barrier to the provision of assistance to older persons relatives. Social Sciences and Medicine, 46(6), 631–639.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, A.E., & D.R. Phillips. (1984). Accessibility and utilization: Geographical perspectives on health care delivery. London and New York: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lam, T. P., Chi, I., Piterman, L., Lam, C. & Lauder, I. (1998). Community attitudes towards living arrangements between the older persons and their adult children in Hong Kong. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 13(3), 215–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lau, S.K. & Kuan, H.S. (1988). The ethos of the Hong Kong Chinese. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, R., Lee, J.J., Yu, E., Sun, S.G., & Lui, W. (2000). Living arrangements and elderly care: The case of Hong Kong. In W. Lui & H. Kendig (Eds.), Who should care for the elderly? (pp. 120–135). Singapore: Singapore University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, W.K.M. (2003). Women and retirement planning: Towards the feminization of poverty in aging Hong Kong. Journal of Women and Aging, 15(1), 31–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, William K.M. (2001). The feminization of poverty in an aged population in Hong Kong: The recycling of poverty in the workplace to retirement. The Asian Journal of Women Studies, 7(3), 31–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lou, W., & Chi, I. (2001). Health-related quality of life of the elderly in Hong Kong: Impact of social support. In I. Chi, N. Chappel, & J. Lubben (Eds.), Elderly Chinese in Pacific Rim Countries: Social support and integration (pp. 97–114). Hong Kong: The Hong Kong University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ng, A., Phillips, D., & Lee, W.K.M. (2002). Persistence and challenges to filial piety and informal support: A case study in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong. Journal of Aging Studies, 16(1), 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, D.R. (2000). Ageing in the Asia-Pacific region: Issues, policies and contexts. In D.R. Phillips (Ed.), Ageing in the Asia-Pacific region: Issues, policies and future trends (pp. 1–35). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raiten, H.L. (1989). Culture change, filial piety and life satisfaction among the elderly Chinese in Hong Kong. Bryn Mawr: Bryn Mawr University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, L., Mehta, K., & Lin, H. S. (1999). Intergenerational influence in Singapore and Taiwan: The role of the elderly in family decisions. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 14, 291–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu Y.W. (1995). Three-generations-stem family: The myth and trap. Taiwan: JuiLiu. (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhan, H.J. (2004). Willingness and expectations: Intergenerational differences in attitudes toward filial responsibility in China. Marriage and Family Review, 36(1), 175–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhan, H.J., & Montgomery, J.V. (2003). Gender and elder care in China: The influence of filial piety and structural constraints. Gender and Society, 17(2), 209–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Politics and Sociology, Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong

    William Keng-mun Lee (associate professor in sociology) & Kwok Hong-kin (assistant professor of sociology)

Authors
  1. William Keng-mun Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kwok Hong-kin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to William Keng-mun Lee.

Additional information

He is also the program director of the Bachelor of Social Science Program. He received his doctorate in sociology from the University of Toronto. His research interests include economic and social development, ethnic and gender studies, social security, social gerontology, and poverty.

He received his doctorate in sociology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interest is mainly in family studies. His current major work is: “The caregiving role of the sandwich generation in coping with their elderly parents in Hong Kong: The trends and their policy implications,” funded by the East Asian Development Network (EADN). He has also been conducting research on elderly care, young-old partnership, and human psychological well-being. He has published four books and a number of papers and research reports.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lee, W.Km., Hong-kin, K. Differences in expectations and patterns of informal support for older persons in Hong Kong: Modification to filial piety. Ageing Int. 30, 188–206 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-005-1011-1

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-005-1011-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation