Perceived Instrumental Support Exchanges in Relationships between Elderly Parents and Their Adult Children: Normative and Structural Explanations

The relation between attachment and intergenerational support

“…There is rich evidence for the importance of family obligations in providing support and for a positive association between the affective qualities of the relationship, such as closeness, warmth, and positive evaluation of the other person (admiration), and the exchange, that is receiving and providing support (e.g., Ikking et al 1999;Rossi and Rossi 1990;Schwarz et al 2005;Silverstein et al 1995). However, given the life-long ties between parents and children, earlier experiences within the parent-child relationship presumably are relevant for the arrangements in adulthood (Cicirelli 1983; see also Rossi and Rossi 1990;Bengtson 1996).…”

Personal and Household Caregiving from Adult Children to Parents and Social Stratification

“…Norms of reciprocity govern intergenerational exchanges in such a way that the more parents gave in the past, the more support they receive from their children (Ikkink et al, 1999). Comparative research has shown how such norms follow different patterns of solidarity among family members depending on the cultural environment (Elmelech, 2005), and how international differences in opinions and preferences related to who should take responsibility for one's own parent's care are more or less congruent with social policy traditions (Daatland and Herlofson, 2003;Kalmijn and Saraceno, 2006).…”

Experienced Support from Adult Children in the Retirement Process

“…For example, the support given was measured only among the parents. It may well be that the level of support reported by the parents is not the same as the level that would have been reported by the children (Klein Ikkink et al, 1999). Moreover, in two of the items of the dependent variable, the type of support is not specified and therefore it is unknown whether they mostly refer to instrumental, emotional, or financial support.…”

“…In this study these possible underlying factors were not measured, however, as the collected data focused on the themes of work and retirement. It should be mentioned though, that in earlier research on intergenerational support the effect of direct reciprocity remained intact when controlling for these types of potential underlying factors (Klein Ikkink et al, 1999). Also no information was available about the level of support parents provided to their children earlier in life (Silverstein et al, 2002) and therefore it was not possible to test the notion of long-term reciprocity.…”

“…Among parents and their children this is not, however, necessarily the same kind of support nor does it have to be exchanged at the same moment in time (Silverstein, Conroy, Wang, Giarrusso, & Bengtson, 2002). Research has shown that parents who give support to their children are more likely to receive help from them in return (e.g., Grundy, 2005; Klein Ikkink, Van Tilburg, & Knipscheer, 1999). Based on this line of reasoning, it can be expected that the more support parents provide to their children, the more support they will receive from their children upon retirement (Hypothesis 2: the exchange hypothesis).…”