Comparative Study of the Elderly in Asia Research

Many studies which examine intergenerational relations draw conclusions based on information collected from only one generation. In other words, interviews are only conducted with an aging parent or an adult child, but rarely both. Using data from the 1993 wave of the Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan, we examine the extent to which adult children and their aging parents agree on family values concerning the living arrangements of the elderly and other norms related to the well-being of the elderly. We first investigate agreement on various attitudes toward intergenerational coresidence by comparing the attitudes of the two generations at the aggregate level. Next, we assess agreement within actual parent-child dyads. We then take a more in-depth look at parent-child dyads who coreside. Using multinomial logistic regression we assess the impacts of parental and child characteristics and experiences on the probability that parents and adult children have either similar or opposing attitudes toward intergenerational coresidence. Dataset used: Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan: Taiwan, 1993. Acknowledgements: A version of this paper was presented at the Population Association of America meetings in New Orleans, May 9-11, 1996. About the Authors: Jennifer Cornman is a doctoral student at the Population Studies Center, University of Michigan Albert Hermalin is a Professor of Sociology and Research Associate at the Population Studies Center, University of Michigan Carol Roan is a Research Associate at the Population Studies Center, University of Michigan Ming-Cheng Chang is the Director of the Taiwan Provincial Institute of Family Planning, Taichung, Taiwan.