Factors associated with intergenerational social support across the world

There has been increasing interest among social scientists with regard to the role of socioeconomic, demographic, and cultural situations on intergenerational finance and help and care transfers in society. With the rapid pace of socioeconomic development and both populations and societies generally being in transition in many parts of the world, traditional values and family dynamics are being affected. Although some researchers have attempted to explore the changing pattern of intergenerational transfers for specific geographical locations, there has been no global comparison yet made due to either an inadequate data set or complete lack of it. Utilising the 2007 Global Ageing Survey (GLAS), this study attempts to examine important determinants of financial transfers as well as help and care transfers among individuals aged between 40 and 79 years residing across 21 countries and territories in five major regions of the world. In the present study, it has been found that a respondent’s age, gender, household size, health appraisal, education, employment status, marital status, contact between generations and geographical location are key factors affecting the receipt or provision of financial support as well as help and care support. Analyses have been performed at regional and country levels providing robust and reliable estimates. This enables us to reach more effective conclusions on populations overall as well as on specific geographical settings. Some policy recommendations and future research directions are put forward in the last part of this paper.

Published online: 16 August 2013.