Remitting ‘filial co-habitation’: ‘actual’ and ‘virtual’ co-residence between Korean professional migrant adult children couples in Singapore and their elderly parents

Abstract

Based on in-depth interviews with middle-class Korean professional sojourner migrant married couples in Singapore and their elderly parents, this paper examines how the cultural meaning and social practice of filial co-habitation and support have been transformed in an international migration context. Transnational co-residence and visiting among these families are examined and a differentiated and patterned organisation of support by sons versus daughters for their own elderly parents is demonstrated. Although the immigration regulations and co-ethnic community environments for older Koreans in Singapore pose a challenge to elderly parents, the family remains the most important nexus of care and support. By adopting ‘virtual’ and ‘actual’ co-residence strategies and deploying multi-purpose long-term visits by wives and children in Singapore to their elderly parents in Korea, and by remitting regular financial contributions, these families are able to maintain the cultural ideal of filial co-residence and support. However, the gendered traditional co-habitation ideal differentiates between actual and virtual co-residence. The actual co-residence pattern was mainly adopted by first sons/daughters-in-law couples and the elderly parents of the first sons, whereas the virtual co-residence pattern was mainly adopted by sons-in-law/daughters couples and the elderly parents of daughters. These results show that patterned two-way transnational mobility for providing care and support is shaped by cultural norms and the practical negotiation of family obligations.

Situating transnational families' care‐giving arrangements: the role of institutional contexts

“…The answer may vary from culture to culture. For example, Kim (2010) shows that in South Korea, the eldest son is expected to accommodate his ageing parents, which means that if the eldest son migrates, so too will his elderly parents. It would be useful to address the above limitations in future research.…”

Generational (dis)agreements – family support, national law and older immigrants in extended households

“…The sons in question were also amongst the younger ones in the large families, corresponding to the traditional Turkish practice that the youngest sons and their wives support the son's parents (Bastug 2002). In contrast, among Korean immigrants, for example, it is commonly the oldest sons and their wives who live with parents ( see Kim 2012).…”

An Autoethnography on Intergenerational Relationships and Transnational Care for Older Parents

“…They can remotely monitor their parents' daily activities and health through video cameras and coordinate healthcare services. Furthermore, adult children can make regular shorter or longer visits not only to maintain transnational kin relationships (Mason 2004) but also to provide the necessary care to elderly parents-a phenomenon Kim calls "remitting temporary co-habitation" (Kim 2012). The ability to provide "good care" to older parents is less affected by physical distance or time difference; the financial situation and intergenerational relationships between non-migrants and migrant children are far more important factors.…”