Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2017

Diversity of Children’s Support for Their Parents in the Context of Aging: Ideas and Behavior

(Abstract)

Hu Anning

China’s aging society and the family-based model of basic aged care determine that children’s support for their parents directly influences the living standards of the majority of the aged population. Existing theories indicate that in an era of social transition, the implications of filial piety shift from the traditional emphasis on the parent-child generational relationship and children’s duty to obey their parents to a dualistic mode in which family love coexists with the authority of the elders. On the basis of data from the Chinese General Social Survey 2006, we explored the ways in which the two basic dimensions of authoritarian filial piety and reciprocal filial piety connect with various types of filial behavior. The result of our multivariable linear model shows that on average, the authoritarian type of filial piety that emphasizes authority relationships and children’s duties increases children’s economic support for their parents, while the reciprocal filial piety that stresses family love and generational equality significantly increases children’s emotional support for their parents. A comparison of the two basic dimensions of filial piety shows that neither significantly increases children’s labor support for their parents. A further analysis of the interaction effects shows that the connection between authoritarian filial piety and economic support is more significant among younger groups. In addition, for males, a marginally significant positive relation exists between authoritarian filial piety and labor support for parents.