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Intergenerational support among widowed older adults in China

provided by daughters (and sons-in-law) than by sons (and daughters-in-law) (Zeng,
George, Sereny-Basher et al., 2016).
Nevertheless, the study contributes to a better understanding of interge nerational
support in widowhood in several aspects. First, this is one of the few studies that
focus on multiple dimensions of intergenerational support from adult children to
their widowed parents in China. Our results show that some characteristics of the
widowed (e.g., ADL limitations) have different associations with different types of
support. Second, this study used a more representative sample in China and covered
rural as well as urban areas. Third, the study considered the potential heterogeneity of
widowed older adults. For example, it finds that widowed older adults with a complex
marital history were less likely to receive multiple types of old-age support from their
children compared with widowed older adults who had married only once. Lastly, the
study provides a finer distinction among different sources of support, including the
adult children’s spouses and their offspring, providing a more complete portrait of
caregiving networks.

5 Conclusions
It is clear that widowed older adults are a very disadvantaged group, and most depend
on their children for financial support in China. It is critical for the government to
improve the social security system as well as the financial well-being of widowed
older adults. Due to the dramatic drop of fertility rates over the past four decades and
high rates of out-migration of young people in rural China, we would expect that fewer
adult children and children-in-law will be able to co-reside or live nearby to give their
widowed parent the hands-on assistance. China should thus learn from the experience
of developed countries and invest in home- and community-based care, residential
care, and institutional care. Currently, due to the high cost, institutional care remains
a privilege of upper-class families. Working-class families simply cannot afford it
(Eckholm, 1998, May 20; Zhan, Feng, Luo, 2008). Our study shows that among the
widowed older adults with one or more ADL limitations, only 5%–10% used social
services and another 2%–10% used domestic workers. The needs for professional
personal care will surely increase in the foreseeable future as the cohorts of Chinese
who could only have one child reach old age in the next few decades. Government
should consider providing subsidies to those who cannot afford the services, such as
the widowed and disabled. As China continues to experience rapid social, cultural, and
economic changes, more research is needed to follow these trends in intergenerational
relationships and transfers.
Authors’ Contribution

Zhenmei Zhang and I-Fen Lin designed the study, planned the analyses, and wrote the
article. Zhenmei Zhang prepared the data file and performed the analyses.
Conflict of Interest

No conflict of interest has been reported by the authors.

Funding and Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by the Center for Family and Demographic
Research, Bowling Green State University, which has core funding from the Eunice
Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
(P2CHD050959). Our thanks go to the editor and the reviewers for their helpful
comments, and to Chuntian Lu for his assistance in data analysis.

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