The Experiences of Reciprocity among Filipino Older Adults in Canada: Intergenerational, Transnational, and Community Considerations

ABSTRACT

This article illustrates the concept of reciprocity in the context of immigrant families. It recommends that definition of reciprocity account for exchanges beyond the immediate family, and render visible the simultaneous location of older people as care recipients and providers, and care arrangements across generations, borders, community, and time. Adopting a critical ethnographic study on the aging and care experiences of older Filipinos in Canada, this article analyzes data from extended observations and in-depth semi-structured interviews with 18 older people, 6 adult children, and 13 community stakeholders. Findings highlight the unique configurations of care among the Filipino community whereby older people engage in care exchange as active participants across intergenerational, transnational, and fictive kin networks.

KEYWORDS:

• Reciprocity
• Filipino older adults
• intergenerational care
• transnational care
• community care

Notes

¹ Racialization refers to broad social processes (including colonialism and cultural privileging) in ascribing social meaning to the term “race”. This definition acknowledges how the meanings and effects of race shift across time and space, constructing racial difference, categorization, and exclusion that result in the oppression and marginalization of racialized people (Henry & Tator, 2009).

² Notions and variations of “filial piety”, defined as the Confucian expression of responsibility, respect, sacrifice and family harmony, are part of assumptions that adult children are obliged to care for their older parent(s). (Lai, 2010; Yu et al., 2016).

³ The research was conducted in accordance with standards set forth by the Tri-Council Policy Statement for Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, and approved by the McGill University Research Ethics Board (REB #198-1112).