Changing intergenerational contracts: gender, cohorts and elder care in central rural China, 2005–2013

ABSTRACT

In the absence of stable pension systems, elder care arrangements in rural China depend on intergenerational contracts. The existing scholarship on elder care in rural China tends to treat the elderly as a homogeneous group and depict them mainly as ‘care recipients’. Based on a diachronic qualitative study in central rural China between 2005 and 2013, this research examines the changing intergenerational contracts between two cohorts of rural elderly and their adult children. These cohorts hold different positions in terms of family structure, number and sex composition of adult children, living arrangement, physical situation, economic standing and appreciation of intergenerational exchange. These differences further produce different social exchange patterns and disparate elder care modalities between genders and cohorts. Drawing upon insights from gender theory on social gerontology, this research identifies the ‘agency’ of older rural women and explores ageing issues among older rural men. This study also presents policy implications by identifying the most disadvantaged group in terms of elder care support.

KEYWORDS:

• Intergenerational contract
• ageing
• elder care
• gender
• cohort
• rural China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

The writing up of this article was sponsored by East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST) Social Science Foster Fund (Grant Number: 222201422024).