Intergenerational Support and Gender: A Comparison of Four Asian Countries

This paper examines patterns of intergenerational support, with a key focus on the gender of the providers, in four countries in East and Southeast Asia: Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. These countries make an interesting set for comparison because they are characterized by varying levels of social and economic development and different family systems, with the Philippines and Thailand having bilateral family systems, Taiwan having a strong patrilineal family system, and Singapore having a mix of the two systems across ethnic groups. Analyses are based on a recent round of national surveys of older persons that were conducted in each country. The results reveal distinctive patterns and varying levels of flexibility across countries with re spect to the gender of coresident married children, but only modest gender patterning in the provision of financial and material support and exchanges of visits.

Dataset(s): Philippine Elderly Survey, 1996. National Survey of Senior Citizens in Singapore, 1995. Survey of the Middle Aged and Elderly in Taiwan, 1996. Survey of the Welfare of the Elderly in Thailand, 1995.