The Structure and Determinants of Intergenerational Support Exchange Flows in an Eastern European Setting

Abstract

Although the provision, receipt, and bidirectionality of support exchanges are important for generational well-being, our understanding of them is lacking in Eastern Europe, a region undergoing swift population aging and social change. This study links intergenerational support exchanges to determinants in Romania, with a focus on proximity of adult children. Data are from the Romanian Aging and Migration Survey ( N = 1,398). Analyses involve two stages. First, latent class analysis (LCA) is conducted to develop an intergenerational support typology. The second uses the typology as a dependent variable in multivariate equations predicting exchange determinants. LCA analysis yielded six propensity classes. Physical distance strongly predicts class membership. Having coresident adult children increases the likelihood of bidirectional exchange. Having an international migrant adult child reduces the chances, even with coresident adult children present. International migrant children lead to a higher probability of being a nonexchanger or receiving monetary support. There is a need for continued consideration of bidirectional exchange models in rapidly developing contexts.

Pathways of Intergenerational Support between Parents and Children throughout Adulthood

“…Intergenerational support may also vary in the direction in which it flows—with downward support from parents to children generally being more likely to occur for much of the life course, until an upward flow of intergenerational support from children to parents may become more likely as parents reach older ages (Kalmijn 2019). Taking into account these varying factors that contribute to the diverse experiences of intergenerational exchange, a number of recent studies have implemented latent class analysis (LCA) to describe and examine the configurations of support that occur between parents and their adult children across international contexts, including rural China (Guo, Chi, and Silverstein 2012), South Korea (Kim et al 2015), Taiwan (Jhang 2022), and Europe (Bo, Zimmer, and Rada 2020; Gierveld, Dykstra, and Schenk 2012). All of these studies reveal around five to six distinct patterns of intergenerational exchange within these populations.…”