Tonya M. Parrott

Factors That Predispose Middle-Aged Sons and Daughters to Provide Social Support to Older Parents.

What accounts for the willingness of adult children to serve the needs of their aging parents? Despite social changes-such as geographic mobility, divorce, and womens participation in the labor force -- that have presumably weakened intergenerational family cohesion, adult children, especially daughters, remain the most prodigious and reliable sources of instrumental social support to their parents (Eggebeen & Hogan, 1990; Lawton, Silverstein, & Bengtson, 1994b; Litwak, 1985) In this analysis we examine the reasons behind such support, and ask whether middle-aged sons and daughters are motivated by similar factors. Longitudinal data collected over three time periods are used to examine gender differences in the degree to which earlier expressions of intergenerational family solidarity and attitudes toward family life influence the propensity of children to provide social support to their elderly parents. II BACKGROUND The life course trajectory of family relationships is increasingly recognized by scholars as an important dimension in studying contemporary family relationships (Bengtson & Allen, 1993). Intergenerational relationships in the older family have been viewed as the culmination of a lifelong pattern of family experiences and exchange. Study of the role of earlier experiences and attitudes in contemporary family relations has generally relied on the retrospective reports of children (Anderson & Stevens, 1993; Simos, 1970; Whitbeck, Simons, & Conger, 1991). For example, Rossi and Rossi (1990) provided evidence that the quality of early family relationships as remembered by adult children influences current feelings of affection and normative obligations toward parents. Whitbeck, Simons, and Conger (1991) found that recollected parental rejection indirectly suppresses the volume of social support provided to parents by diminishing the quality of the contemporary parent-child relationship. While these studies have yielded some promising insights into the life course of the family, longitudinal data is needed to prospectively link earlier expressed values, attitudes, and sentiments in the family with later outcomes, and thus establish causal relationships among the constructs. Research on the family provision of social support to older relatives has a long and rich tradition in social gerontology (e.g., see Shanas, 1979). More recently, there has been a growth in the number of studies that focus exclusively on intergenerational family relationships as sources of support for the elderly. These studies have been made possible by the recent availability of detailed, multigenerational, and sometimes longitudinal data concerning family relations collected in national surveys (Hogan, Eggebeen, & Clogg, 1993; Lawton, Silverstein, & Bengtson, 1994b), in regional surveys (Bengtson Roberts, 1991; Rossi & Rossi, 1990; Spitze & Logan, 1990), and in surveys of ethnically diverse samples of African Americans (Chatters & Taylor, 1993) and Mexican Americans (Markides, Boldt, & Ray, 1986). Such research seeks to better understand the conditions under which social transfers are made between adult generations. In this article we use the construct of social solidarity to characterize the relationships between adult children and their parents. The paradigm of solidarity is widely used to specify variables in empirical studies of family relationships (Atkinson, Kivett, & Campbell, 1986; Bengtson & Roberts, 1991; Roberts & Bengtson, 1990; Rossi & Rossi 1990). We focus on four of the six identified components, or dimensions, of solidarity: functional solidarity, affectual solidarity, normative solidarity, and associational solidarity. While previous research suggests that affectual, normative, and associational forms of solidarity predispose children to provide social support to older parents, studies have rarely taken them into account simultaneously when explaining functional solidarity between generations (see Lee, Netzer, & Coward, 1994). …

The Effects of Earlier Intergenerational Affection, Normative Expectations, and Family Conflict on Contemporary Exchanges of Help and Support

This article extends previous research by examining the relationship between prospective accounts of intergenerational affection, normative expectations, and conflict on current patterns of supportive exchanges between parents and adult children. Research questions are addressed using data from 680 parent-child dyads participating in the 1988 and 1991 waves of the University of Southern California Longitudinal Study of Generations. Findings indicate that a history of affection in a parent-adult child relationship is associated with equitable and reciprocal exchanges of support and a greater likelihood of receiving and giving various forms of help and support. A strong sense of obligation to family at an earlier time period was related to exchange relationships with fathers but not with mothers: Duty-driven exchanges were less equitable, with adult children giving much more than they received. Earlier conflict in parent-adult child relationships did not interfere with contemporary exchanges of help and support.

Attitudes toward Government Policies that Assist Informal Caregivers The Link between Personal Troubles and Public Issues

With the aging of the population, families are increasingly likely to confront the caregiving needs of their older parents, grandparents, and other disabled relatives. This analysis uses national survey data to examine the preferences of Americans for public programs that directly assist caregivers in their activities. Respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the following three policies: directly paying caregivers, granting tax credits to caregivers, and requiring that employers grant time off without pay to caregivers. Although only one-third of respondents agreed with the idea of paying caregivers, more than 70 percent supported tax credits, and almost 60 percent supported time off to caregivers. Multiple regression reveals that current caregivers more strongly support all three policies, even when controlling for demographic factors, resources, values toward family responsibility, and political orientation. The results suggest that public policies that marshal informal services in support of dependent relatives will find greater favor because they enable the altruistic impulses of families to be fulfilled.

Bringing Gender into Our Discussion of Policy Issues

Abstract Policy issues can and should be addressed in courses dealing with gender and aging because health policies as well as economic policies influence life chances, health status, and the choices of treatment available and affordable to older women. Moreover, policy decisions shape and filter the development and dispersion of health knowledge, preventive practices, and decision-making regarding treatment. Policies also have biases built into them that advantage some groups while disadvantaging others; even policies that are considered gender-neutral can have gender-specific outcomes that are harmful or inequitable. This article focuses on ways to include policy issues in womens studies, health, and aging courses so that gerontology and geriatrics students are aware not only of the biological concerns associated with aging, but also of the larger social and policy environments in which health care and aging interact for older women.