Main patterns and determinants of married women’s support to parents and parents-in-law in China

Filial support has been recognised as a main source of social support for China’s aging population. Upward intergenerational support is not gender-neutral, and not homogeneous among parents and in-laws. While sons are conventionally mostly expected to perform filial obligations, adult daughters have played an important role in supporting their parents and the larger family unit in contemporary China. However, the support behaviours of married women have been under-researched. Drawing on representative nationwide data from Chinese General Social Survey in 2006, therefore, this study investigates the patterns and determinants of financial support and instrumental support (e.g., helping with household chores) provided by married women to their parents and parents-in-law. Results show that there were no difference in the type and frequency of support provided by married women to parents and parents-in-law. Married women with more socio-economic resources tended to provide more financial support to parents and parents-in-law while only the annual income was positively linked to instrumental support to parents. Married women were also more likely to support their parents and parents-in-law financially and instrumentally if they received instrumental support from parents and either type of support from parents-in-law. In addition, married women having children tended to provide more financial support to parents and instrumental support to parents-in-law than those with no children. The number of siblings and siblings-in-law was positively related to financial support towards parents and parents-in-law. Furthermore, instrumental support to parents and parents-in-law was positively related to geographic proximity. Copyright © 2018 Hong Kong Sociological Association 20th Annual Conference.