Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-30T21:01:36.781Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Downward transfer of support and care: understanding the cultural lag in rural China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2020

F. X. Qiu ,
H. J. Zhan Open the ORCID record for H. J. Zhan [Opens in a new window] ,
J. Liu  and
P. M. Barrett
F. X. Qiu
Affiliation:
Department of History and Sociology, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, China
H. J. Zhan*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
J. Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
P. M. Barrett
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Chinese culture of filial piety has historically emphasised children's responsibility for their ageing parents. Little is understood regarding the inverse: parents’ responsibility and care for their adult children. This paper uses interviews with 50 families living in rural China's Anhui Province to understand intergenerational support in rural China. Findings indicate that parents in rural China take on large financial burdens in order to sustain patrilineal traditions by providing housing and child care for their adult sons. These expectations lead some rural elders to become migrant workers in order to support their adult sons while others provide live-in grandchild-care, moving into their children's urban homes or bringing grandchildren into their own homes. As the oldest rural generations begin to require ageing care of their own, migrant children are unable to provide the sustained care and support expected within the cultural tradition of xiao. This paper adds to the small body of literature that examines the downward transfer of support from parents to their adult children in rural China. The authors argue that there is an emerging cultural rupture in the practice of filial piety – while the older generation is fulfilling their obligations of upbringing and paying for adult children's housing and child care; these adult children are not necessarily available or committed to the return of care for their ageing parents. The authors reveal cultural and structural lags that leave millions of rural ageing adults vulnerable in the process of urbanisation in rural China.

Keywords

intergenerational supportfilial pietymigrationrural China
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 42 , Issue 6 , June 2022 , pp. 1422 - 1447
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bengtson, V (2001) Beyond the nuclear family: the increasing importance of multigenerational bonds. Journal of Marriage and Family 63, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, H (2017) Intergenerational accumulation and the housing inequality of children: based on a case study of Guangzhou. Chinese Journal of Sociology 4, 5–20.Google Scholar
Chen, F and Liu, G (2012) The health implications of grandparents caring for grandchildren in China. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 67B, 99–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, F, Liu, G and Mair, CA (2011) Intergenerational ties in context: grandparents caring for grandchildren in China. Social Forces 90, 571–594.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cong, Z and Silverstein, M (2011) Intergenerational exchange between parents and migrant and nonmigrant sons in rural China. Journal of Marriage and Family 73, 93–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cong, Z and Silverstein, M (2012) Custodial grandparents and intergenerational support in rural China. In Mehta, K and Thang, L (eds), Experiencing Grandparenthood. New York: Springer Publisher, pp. 109–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corbin, J and Strauss, A (2015) Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Cowgill, D (1974) The ageing of populations and societies. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 415, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, CB (2015) Social Policy for an Ageing Society – A Human Rights Perspective. New York, NY: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, L and Jenkins, B (2016) Grandparental childcare in Australia: gender differences in the correlates of providing regular grandparental care while parents work. Community, Work & Family 19, 281–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eggebeen, DJ (1992) Family structure and intergenerational exchanges. Research on Aging 14(4), 427–447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faber, JW and Rich, PM (2018) Financially overextended: college attendance as a contributor to foreclosures during the Great Recession. Demography 55, 1727–1748.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fan, XG and Wu, XW (2005) Dilemma and solution: thoughts about post-retirement Social Security in China. Guangxi Social Sciences 118, 174–176.Google Scholar
Fang, C, Giles, J, O'Keefe, P and Wang, D (2012) The Elderly and Old Age Support in Rural China. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Fingerman, K, Huo, M and Birditt, K (2020) A decade of research on interngenerational ties: technological, economic, political, and demographic changes. Journal of Marriage and Family 82, 283–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goh, EC (2006) Raising the precious single child in urban China – an intergenerational joint mission between parents and grandparents. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships 4, 6–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldstein, M and Ku, Y (1993) Income and family support among rural elderly in Zhejiang Province China. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology 8, 197–224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodsell, TL, James, SL, Yorgason, JB and Call, VRA (2015) Intergenerational assistance to adult children: gender and number of sisters and brothers. Journal of Family Issues 36, 979–1000.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grundy, E (2005) Reciprocity in relationships: socio-economic and health influences on intergenerational exchanges between third age parents and their adult children in Great Britain. British Journal of Sociology 56, 233–255.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gu, D, Dupre, ME and Liu, G (2007) Characteristics of the institutionalized and community-residing oldest old in China. Social Science and Medicine 64, 871–883.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guo, M, Chi, I and Silverstein, M (2013) Sources of older parents’ ambivalent feelings toward their adult children: the case of rural China. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 68B, 420–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guo, M, Chi, I and Silverstein, M (2017) Intergenerational support and depression among Chinese older adults: do gender and widowhood make a difference? Ageing & Society 37, 695–724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haider, SJ and McGarry, K (2018) Parental investments in college and later cash transfers. Demography 55, 1705–1725.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Han, JD (2018) Should child support obligations continue for children attending college? Journal of Divorce and Remarriage 48, 109–125.Google Scholar
Hărăguş, M (2014) Intergenerational solidarity in co-residential living arrangements. Social Work Review/Revista de Asistenta Sociala 13, 27–42.Google Scholar
Hartnett, CS, Fingerman, KL and Birditt, KS (2018) Without the ties that bind: young adults who lack active parental relationships. Advances in Life Course Research 3, 103–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haxton, CL and Harknett, K (2009) Racial and gender differences in kin support: a mixed-methods study of African American and Hispanic couples. Journal of Family Issues 30, 1019–1040.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
He, XF (2009) On intergenerational exploitation – reflection on the value foundation of intergenerational relations. Sociological Research 5, 84–92.Google Scholar
He, XF (2010) Prevent intergenerational exploitation in the process of urbanization. Research Times, April 12.Google Scholar
He, XF (2011) Intergenerational ‘Exploitation’ – A Report Based on Yanghe Township in Henan Province. Available at http://www.snzg.cn/article/2011/0809/article_24985.html.Google Scholar
He, W, Goodkind, D and Kowal, P (2016) An Ageing World: 2015. International Population Reports. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Hogan, DP, Eggebeen, DJ and Clogg, CC (1993) The structure of intergenerational exchanges in American families. American Journal of Sociology 98, 1428–1458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooyman, NR, Mahoney, KJ and Sciegaj, M (2016) Theories that guide consumer-directed/person-centered initiatives in policy and practice. In Bengtson VL and Settersten RA Jr. (eds), Handbook of Theories of Aging. New York: Spring Publishing Company, pp. 427–462.Google Scholar
Huang, Y and Liu, M (2013) The analysis on elderly population's suicide rate at the national level 1987–2009. Population and Development 19, 95–100.Google Scholar
Igel, C, Brandt, M, Haberkern, K and Szydlik, M (2009) Specialization between family and state intergenerational time transfers in Western Europe. Journal of Comparative Family Studies 40, 203–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ikels, C (1993) Chinese kinship and the state: shaping of policy for the elderly. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics 13, 123–146.Google Scholar
Kelley, SJ, Whitley, DM and Capos, PE (2010) Grandmothers raising grandchildren: results of an intervention to improve health outcomes. Journal of Nursing Scholarship 42, 379–386.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Köppe, S (2018) Passing it on: inheritance, coresidence and the influence of parental support on homeownership and housing pathways. Housing Studies 33, 224–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kunkel, SR, Applebaum, RA and Nelson, IM (2003) For love and money: paying family caregivers. Generations 27, 74–80.Google Scholar
Lavely, W and Ren, X (1992) Patrilocality and early marital coresidence in rural China – 1955–1985. China Quarterly 127, 594–615.Google Scholar
Litwin, H, Vogel, C, Künemund, H and Kohli, M (2008) The balance of intergenerational exchange: correlates of net transfers in Germany and Israel. European Journal of Ageing 5, 91–102.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liu, R (2012) How does intergenerational exploitation occur in the façade of soft feelings. School Magazine of the Chinese Communist Party in Ningbo City 2012, 63–65.Google Scholar
Liu, YW (2016) Death in rural familial care – from the perspective of rural elders’ suicide. Wuhan University Magazine 69, 13–16.Google Scholar
Lu, YL (2008) Does hukou still matter? The household registration system and its impact on social stratification and mobility in China. Social Sciences in China 29, 56–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, BR (2015) Research analysis on intergenerational exploitation in rural housing expenditure in Fujian Province. Journal of Shenyang Agricultural University (Social Science Edition) 17, 647–651.Google Scholar
Luo, BZ and Zhan, HJ (2012) Filial piety and functional support: understanding intergenerational solidarity among families with migrated children in rural China. Ageing International 37, 69–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michalski, RL and Shackelford, TK (2005) Grandparental investment as a function of relational uncertainty and emotional closeness with parents. Human Nature 16, 293–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mills, TL Gomez-Smith, Z and Leon, JM (2005) Skipped generation families: sources of psychological distress among grandmothers of grandchildren who live in homes where neither parent is present. Marriage and Family Review 37, 191–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China (2015 a) National Economy and Social Development Report. Available at http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/201602/t20160229_1323991.html.Google Scholar
National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China (2015 b) Report on Migrant Workers. Available at http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016-04/28/c_128940738.htm.Google Scholar
Pavolini, E and Ranci, C (2008) Restructuring the welfare state: reforms in long-term care in Western European countries. Journal of European Social Policy 18, 246–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Police Office in Sixian (2020) Department of Registration Statistics of the Police Office in Sixian, Anhui Province. Police Office in Sixian. [in Chinese]Google Scholar
Rein, M and Salzman, H (1995) Social Integration, Participation and Exchange in Five Industrial Countries. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ronald, R and Lennartz, C (2018) Housing careers, intergenerational support and family relations. Housing Studies 33, 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sallie Mae (2014) How America Pays for College. Available at http://news.salliemae.com/files/doc_library/file/HowAmericaPaysforCollege2014FNL.pdf.Google Scholar
Sand, RG and Goldberg-Glen, RS (2000) Factors associated with stress among grandparents raising their grandchildren. Family Relations 49, 97–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sansbury, D (1999) Gender and Welfare State Regimes. London: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Santoro, M (2014) Intergenerational solidarity between parents and adult children: a qualitative research among cohabiting and married children in Italy. International Review of Sociology 24, 471–487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sher, AE (1984) Ageing in Post-Mao China: The Politics of Veneration. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Short, SE, Fengying, Z, Siyuan, X and Mingliang, Y (2001) China's one-child policy and the care of children: an analysis of qualitative and quantitative data. Social Forces 79, 913–943.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silverstein, M and Cong, Z (2013) Grandparenting in rural China. Generations 37, 46–52.Google Scholar
Silverstein, M, Cong, Z and Li, S (2006) Intergenerational transfers and living arrangements of older people in rural China: consequences for psychological well-being. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 61B, 256–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simon-Rusinowitz, L, Mahoney, KJ and Benjamin, AE (1998) Payments to families who provide care: an option that should be available. Generations 22, 69–75.Google Scholar
Sixian (2020) The Planning Outline of Taking Targeted Measures to Alleviate Poverty of Sixian. Available at http://www.laosizhou.com/news/40625.html.Google Scholar
Sprang, G, Choi, M, Eslinger, JG and Whitt-Woosley, AL (2015) The pathway to grandparenting stress: trauma, relational conflict, and emotional well-being. Aging and Mental Health 19, 315–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Statistics Bureau of Anhui Province (2018) Civil Economic and Social Development Statistical Report of Anhui Province. Available at http://tjj.ah.gov.cn/ssah/qwfbjd/tjgb/sjtjgb/113724401.html.Google Scholar
Statistics Bureau of Sixian (2018) Public Report of Civic Economic and Social Development of Sixian in 2018. Available at www.sixian.gov.cn/sjkf/jd/88141142.html (accessed 1 December 2020).Google Scholar
Strauss, A and Corbin, J (1998) Basics of Qualitative Research Techniques. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Streib, GF (1987) Old age in sociocultural context: China and the United States. Journal of Aging Studies 7, 96–210.Google Scholar
Uhlenberg, P and Hammil, BD (1998) Frequency of grandparent contact with grandchild sets: six factors that make a difference. The Gerontologist 38, 276–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United Nations (2000) World Population Prospects. China Life Expectancy 1950–2020. Available at https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/CHN/china/life-expectancy.Google Scholar
US Census Bureau (2006) Statistical Abstract of the U.S., pp. 1–59. Available at https://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/06statab/pop.pdf.Google Scholar
Wang, D (2014) Dowry in different color: dowry as a means of intergenerational exploitation. Journal of Hubei Minzu University (Philosophy and Sciences) 32, 26–30.Google Scholar
Wang, YQ and Liu, T (2020) The ‘silent reserves’ of the Chinese patriarchal system: women as ‘hidden’ contributors to Chinese social policy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, 1–14.Google Scholar
Wei, Y and Jiang, Q (2017) Intragenerational exploitation or intergenerational exploitation? Study on bride price from hundreds of villages in nice provinces. Population and Economics 224, 57–69. In Chinese.Google Scholar
Whittington, FJ, Kunkel, SR and de Medeiros, K (2019) Global Aging – Comparative Perspectives on Aging and the Life Course, 2nd Edn. New York, NY: Springer .CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, Y (2001) Family support for old people in rural China. Social Policy and Administration 33, 307–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yan, Y (2003) Private Life Under Socialism: Love, Intimacy and Family Change in a Chinese Village. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yan, Y (2011) The individualization of the family in rural China. Boundary 2, 203–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yan, Y (2015) Parent-driven divorce and individualization among urban Chinese youth. International Social Science Journal 64, 317–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yan, Y (2016) Intergenerational intimacy and descending familism in rural north China. American Anthropologist 118, 244–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ye, JZ and He, CZ (2008) Lonely Sunset: The Elderly Left Behind in Rural China. China: Social Sciences Academic Press.Google Scholar
Zhan, HJ (2011) Elder care in China – changing practices and culture. In Chen SY and Powell JL (eds), Aging in Perspective and the Case of China: Issues and Approaches. New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers, pp. 161–174.Google Scholar
Zhan, HJ and Montgomery, RJV (2003) Gender and elder care in China: the influence of filial piety and structural constraints. Gender and Society 17, 209–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhan, HJ, Feng, X and Luo, B (2008) Placing elderly parents in institutions in urban China: a reinterpretation of filial piety. Research on Aging 30, 543–571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhan, HJ, Feng, ZL, Feng, X and Chen, ZY (2011) The role of the family institutional long-term care – cultural management of filial piety in China. International Journal of Social Welfare 20, 121–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhan, HJ, Luo, B and Chen, ZY (2012) Institutional elder care in China. In Chen SY and Powell JL (eds), Aging in China: Implications to Social Policy of a Changing Economic State (International Perspectives on Aging). New York: Springer Publishing Company, pp. 221–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, WW and Zhang, KC (2017) Empirical study on influence factors of purchasing houses of migrant workers in the city. Economic Survey 34, 25–30.Google Scholar
Zhong, X (2015) Refamilization: intergenerational cooperation and conflicts in housing consumption among Chinese urban families. Journal of Public Administration 2015, 1–20.Google Scholar
Zhong, ZB, Lu, J and Wei, HY (2015) Reversing the care? Research on rural parents’ care and support for adult children after their marriage. Study and Practice 10, 92–103.Google Scholar
Zhou, W (2004) The impact of population ageing on post-retirement Social Security in China. Study Journal of Haihe University 6, 78–71.Google Scholar