The Generational Contract in the Family: An Analysis of Transfer Regimes in Europe

Recent research has suggested that financial transfers from parents to their adult children in the family are less likely to take place but more intense—i.e. for larger amounts—in the Southern European countries than in the Nordic ones, with the Continental European countries falling in-between the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European sociological review 2013-08, Vol.29 (4), p.828-840
Main Authors: Albertini, Marco, Kohli, Martin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult Children
Ageing
Aging
Children
Coresidence
Europe
Family
Financial Support
Health
Parents
Retirement
Sexuality. Marriage. Family relations
Sociology
Sociology of the family. Age groups
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Summary:Recent research has suggested that financial transfers from parents to their adult children in the family are less likely to take place but more intense—i.e. for larger amounts—in the Southern European countries than in the Nordic ones, with the Continental European countries falling in-between the two. What remains to be examined is the variation among regimes in the social mechanisms regulating these transfers. Using data from the first wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), this article shows that financial transfers have different aims and meanings across the regimes. In Southern Europe, parents support their children mainly through co-residence, and little economic support passes the walls of the house. In the Nordic countries, in contrast, parent–child co-residence is non-normative. Children leave their parents' home early and then receive direct and explicit help from them. The Continental countries fall in-between.
ISSN:0266-7215
1468-2672
DOI:10.1093/esr/jcs061