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Zhang Z and Lin I-F

transfers (Logan, Bian, and Bian, 1998; Xie and Zhu, 2009). Thus, although we know,
for instance, that adult children in China are more likely to live with a widowed
parent than with married parents (Logan and Bian, 1999; Treas and Chen, 2000),
little is known about the determinants of intergenerational support for widowed older
adults and who is providing what support to them. Our study thus aims to take a first
step in understanding the pattern and correlates of intergenerational support for the
increasingly large and diverse group of widowed adults in China, paying particular
attention to the differences between widows and widowers.
Drawing the data from the 2002 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey
(CLHLS), this study extends the literature on intergenerational support in widowhood
in several regards. First, we used a nationwide sample to examine multiple dimensions
of intergenerational support, including space (living arrangements), money (financial
transfer), and time (emotional support, sick care, and personal care for the disabled), at
st
the beginning of the 21 century. Previous research in this area often focused on a few
large Chinese cities (Bian, Logan, and Bian, 1998; Liu, Liang, and Gu, 1995; Xie and
Zhu, 2009). The pattern of intergenerational transfer is likely to differ between rural
and urban areas owing to the differentials in living standards, family size, pensions,
health insurance coverage, and the diffusion of Western values, such as individualism.
Second, the CLHLS adopted a unique sampling strategy that oversampled the oldest
old (ages 80 and older), a fastest growing segment of the older population. The oldest
old population is at a higher risk of experiencing physical and cognitive impairments
compared to the younger seniors, and is typically in greater need of financial,
emotional, and personal care (Zhang, 2006). Third, we focused on widows as well
as widowers. Prior studies in Western countries have suggested that the patterns of
intergenerational support differed for widows and widowers, with widows more
dependent on adult children for financial support and legal advice than widowers (Ha,
Carr, Utz et al., 2006). Fourth, we examined intergenerational assistance beyond the
provision of support from sons and daughters. Scholars often focused exclusively on
adult children and ignored the role of other potential caregivers in the networks, such
as daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, grandchildren, and grandchildren-in-law, who may
play an important role in providing the widowed with instrumental and emotional
support. Finally, we examined whether marital history relates to intergenerational
support in old age. Western studies have showed that parents with multiple marriages
are less likely to receive help from their adult children relative to parents who have
married only once (Fingerman, Pillemer, Silverstein et al., 2012). As far as we know,
this issue has yet to be addressed using Chinese samples.
1.1 Widowhood and Intergenerational Support in China

The relationship between widowed parents and their adult children is heavily influ-
enced by the Confucian ideals of filial piety. For thousands of years, China was a
patriarchal, patrilineal, and patrilocal society, and only sons were entitled to inherit
family property. Traditionally, married sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren
were responsible for taking care of their aging parents (Whyte, 2003). By contrast,
daughters cannot inherit any family property and their services have typically
transferred to their husbands’ family upon marriage (Deutsch, 2006; Li, Feldman, and
Jin, 2004). Consistent with this expectation, previous studies found that Chinese older
adults, including the widowed, are much more likely to co-reside with sons than with
daughters. Sons in rural areas also provided more elder care than daughters (Guo,
Chi, and Silverstein, 2016), and although current legislation requires that daughters
share with sons the responsibility of providing for their parents in old age, many older
Chinese still regard daughters as temporary members of their natal families and do
not expect support from their daughters (Deutsch, 2006; Miller, 2004). Despite rapid
social and economic changes since the late 1970s, filial values are still strong in China
(Zhan and Montgomery, 2003), though the patrilineal norms have been weakened
significantly in cities. In a 1997 survey conducted in Beijing, most young respondents

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