Intergenerational support exchange and the health of older people in contemporary China
Intergenerational support exchange and the health of older people in contemporary China
Asia has the largest absolute number of older persons, with a dramatic population ageing trend which is spurred by a rapid industrialization and urbanization process. Rapid population ageing has greatly affected intergenerational economic, social, and psychological support exchange within families. This chapter provides an overview of the changes in the bidirectional intergenerational support provision over the last decades in China and demonstrates how such changes have impacted upon older adults’ physical and psychological health.
This chapter outlines that prior to 2000, most older people in China depended on the informal care provided by their adult children, yet recent research has presented a decreasing frequency of intergenerational contact and support exchange. Along with this, the exchange of intergenerational economic and psychological support in China is undergoing changes with competing evidence showing an increasing or declining trend. This chapter contributes to our understanding of the complex impact of the changes in intergenerational support exchange on the physical and psychological health status of older people in China. In further research, it is recommended that intergenerational support exchange and its effect on the health of older people should be examined taking into account macro-level factors, such as the economic and cultural context, and micro-level factors, including different generations’ sociodemographic characteristics. A key policy priority should be to plan for the family policy with the available up-to-date research findings about intergenerational support exchange and to develop targeted interventions aimed at fulfilling the needs of older people.
Yang, Yazhen
3d31fa56-7ce5-4f7a-844a-622bad392669
Evandrou, Maria
cd2210ea-9625-44d7-b0f4-fc0721a25d28
Vlachantoni, Athina
06a52fbb-f2a0-4c81-9fbc-d6efc736c6cb
Yang, Yazhen
3d31fa56-7ce5-4f7a-844a-622bad392669
Evandrou, Maria
cd2210ea-9625-44d7-b0f4-fc0721a25d28
Vlachantoni, Athina
06a52fbb-f2a0-4c81-9fbc-d6efc736c6cb
Yang, Yazhen, Evandrou, Maria and Vlachantoni, Athina
(2025)
Intergenerational support exchange and the health of older people in contemporary China.
In,
Handbook of Aging, Health and Public Policy.
Singapore.
Springer.
(doi:10.1007/978-981-16-1914-4_158-1).
Record type:
Book Section
Abstract
Asia has the largest absolute number of older persons, with a dramatic population ageing trend which is spurred by a rapid industrialization and urbanization process. Rapid population ageing has greatly affected intergenerational economic, social, and psychological support exchange within families. This chapter provides an overview of the changes in the bidirectional intergenerational support provision over the last decades in China and demonstrates how such changes have impacted upon older adults’ physical and psychological health.
This chapter outlines that prior to 2000, most older people in China depended on the informal care provided by their adult children, yet recent research has presented a decreasing frequency of intergenerational contact and support exchange. Along with this, the exchange of intergenerational economic and psychological support in China is undergoing changes with competing evidence showing an increasing or declining trend. This chapter contributes to our understanding of the complex impact of the changes in intergenerational support exchange on the physical and psychological health status of older people in China. In further research, it is recommended that intergenerational support exchange and its effect on the health of older people should be examined taking into account macro-level factors, such as the economic and cultural context, and micro-level factors, including different generations’ sociodemographic characteristics. A key policy priority should be to plan for the family policy with the available up-to-date research findings about intergenerational support exchange and to develop targeted interventions aimed at fulfilling the needs of older people.
This record has no associated files available for download.
More information
e-pub ahead of print date: 5 June 2025
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 503319
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/503319
PURE UUID: a02d69e5-7712-464e-abf4-78900bba633b
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 29 Jul 2025 16:37
Last modified: 30 Jul 2025 01:42
Export record
Altmetrics
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
