Support Now to Care Later: Intergenerational Support Exchanges and Older Parents' Care Receipt and Expectations

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Sociology
• Family Studies

Background:

• Previous support exchanges between older parents and adult children can influence future caregiving dynamics.
• Understanding these dynamics is crucial for predicting care receipt and expectations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how different types of past support exchanges (tangible, non-tangible, childcare) are associated with current care receipt and expected future care from adult children, from the older parent's perspective.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Family Exchanges Study (2008 and 2013) with 190 older parents and 709 adult children.
• Employed multilevel, within-family logistic regression models to analyze associations between past support patterns and current/expected care.

Main Results:

• Older parents with functional limitations were more likely to receive care from children who previously provided more tangible support.
• Parents without current limitations identified children from whom they received tangible support and to whom they provided childcare support as expected future caregivers.

Conclusions:

• Past tangible support is a significant predictor of both current care receipt and expected future care from adult children.
• Older parents' provision of childcare support to adult children is also important, underscoring the role of reciprocity in intergenerational care.
• Findings emphasize the continuity of support-to-care transitions within families.