Stability and Change in Intergenerational Family Relations Across Two Decades: Findings From the German Ageing Survey, 1996-2014.

OBJECTIVES

Using high-quality data from Germany, this study aims to contribute to the yet little knowledge about possible changes in adult parent-child relationships within countries over time.

METHOD

Analyzing 13,106 interviews from four rounds of the German Ageing Survey (DEAS), covering the period 1996-2014, we monitor stability and change in four dimensions of adult parent-child relationships, namely geographic proximity, frequency of contact, emotional closeness, and exchange of support.

RESULTS

We observed a continuous decrease in parent-child geographic proximity between 1996 and 2008, but no further increase in distance thereafter. There was no change in intergenerational frequency of contact or emotional closeness between 1996 and 2014. Parents' propensity to support a child tended to decrease in the early 2000s, with signs of recovery in 2014. Whereas parents' receipt of material support from children remained stable, their probability to receive instrumental support declined between 1996 and 2008, but not any further thereafter.

DISCUSSION

Temporal patterns of intergenerational solidarities within countries might be characterized simultaneously by stability and change, where increasing geographic mobility, for example, is paralleled by continuous family cohesion. Family members appear to react to variations in social and economic circumstances with behavioral changes allowing them to maintain high levels of overall intergenerational solidarity.