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Zhang Z and Lin I-F

respectively, p < 0.05). In addition, a higher proportion of widowers (79%) than
widows (72%) reported that their sons and daughters-in-law took care of them when
they were ill (p < 0.05). Widowers (72%) were more likely than widows (63%) to
name their sons and daughters-in-law as the ones they would talk to first when they
wanted to share their thoughts and feelings (p < 0.05). Widows, on the other hand,
more often named their daughters and sons-in-law as confidants than widowers (18%
vs. 12%, respectively, p < 0.05). Finally, widowers were more likely to live with their
sons than were widows (84% vs. 79%, respectively, p < 0.05).
3.4 Sources of Assistance for Disabled Widows and Widowers

In additional analyses, we examined who provided principal care to those who needed
help with ADLs. Following Hermalin and Shih’s (2003) work, we conducted separate
analyses for widows and widowers due to previous findings that older adults’ gender
mattered in who provided what ADL assistance (Lee, Dwyer, and Coward, 1993). The
analytic sample was restricted to widowed older adults who experienced at least one
ADL difficulty. Several important findings emerged, as shown in Table 4. First, among

Table 3. Sources of support received by widowed Chinese by provider’s gender and family ties to the widowed
Net Financial Transfer a p
Main provider Widows (%) Widowers (%)
Sons and daughters 70.1 62.7 *
Sons and daughters-in-law 21.1 26.0 ns
Daughters and sons-in-law 8.8 11.3 ns
Sick Care b
Widows (%) Widowers (%)
Sons and daughters-in-law 72.2 78.7 *
Daughters and sons-in-law 13.6 9.8 ns
Sons and daughters 11.6 9.5 ns
Grandchildren and grandchildren-in-law 2.6 2.0 ns
Emotional Support c
Widows (%) Widowers (%)
Sons and daughters-in-law 63.4 72.4 *
Daughters and sons-in-law 17.8 11.7 *
Sons and daughters 15.5 13.3 ns
Grandchildren and 3.3 2.6 ns
grandchildren-in-law
Living Arrangements d
Widows (%) Widowers (%)
Live with son 78.7 84.4 *
Live with daughter 12.8 10.8 ns
Live with son and daughter 2.5 0.7 *
Live with grandchild 6.0 4.1 ns
Notes: The means and percentages are weighted.
* Difference between the widows and widowers significant at p < 0.05
ns: Not significant at p < 0.05
a The analytic sample includes widowed older adults who had at least one child and received positive financial transfers from children/children-in-law.
b The analytic sample includes widowed older adults who mentioned adult children/children-in-law or grandchildren/grandchildren-in-law as the ones
who would take care of them when they were sick.
c The analytic sample includes widowed older adults who mentioned adult children/children-in-law or grandchildren/grandchildren-in-law as the ones
they would talk to first when they wanted to share their thoughts and feelings.
d The analytic sample includes widowed older adults who lived with adult children or grandchildren.

International Journal of Population Studies 2017, Volume 3, Issue 1 103