| Abstract: | This study investigates the gender pattern of both downstream and upstream transfers between older parents and their children in China. Based on theories about the generation gap in the understandings of family norm and the heterogeneous effects of the social forces that encourage women to contribute more in elder care by generation, the author proposes a gender asymmetrical pattern in which the patrilineal norm governs parents' decisions of downstream transfers but exerts little effect on children's upstream support for parents. Capitalizing on a survey of the population older than 60 years, the author fitted several simultaneous equation models. Empirical results suggest that, all being equal, daughters provide more monetary and housework assistance to older parents than do sons, but daughters are comparatively disadvantaged in the probability of receiving either type of transfer from their parents. The pattern of “providing more but receiving less” for female caregivers affirms the gender asymmetrical pattern. |
