Do Safety Nets Work? The Role of Anticipated Help in Times of Need

Abstract

DAVID J. EGGEBEEN Pennsylvania State University ADAM DAVEY University of Georgia* A sample of parents (aged 50+) drawn from the 1988 and 1992 waves of the National Survey of Families and Households was used to examine two questions: How responsive is support from adult children in times of need? Is support from children greater for those who expected their children to provide help? Parents who experience one or more transitions in the time between survey waves are likely to receive help from their adult children over and above previous exchange patterns. Responsiveness on the part of children does not appear to be linked with parental expectations, however. Neither general value orientations about what children should do to support parents, nor expectations of help from one's own children in hypothetical situations are related to children's responsiveness to parental needs. Results are consistent with a contingent exchange perspective on intergenerational relationships. Key Words: aging, filial responsibility, intergenerational relations, parent-child relationships. Popular imagery, as well as theory, holds that most older Americans can readily call on a network of kin assistance in times of need (Antonucci, 1990). Consistent with this idea, a number of studies show that most adults have regular contact with their adult children and report that their children would be important sources of assistance in a crisis (Eggebeen, 1992; Wellman & Wortley, 1990). Other research, however, suggests that anticipated support is only moderately correlated with actual support (Hogan & Eggebeen, 1995). We directly test the linkage among expected support, needs, and support rendered in response to needs. We make use of the 1988 and 1992 waves of the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH). These panel data allow, for the first time, direct examination of the responsiveness of exchanges of support from adult children to the onset of four transitions or potential crises experienced by their parents: the loss of a spouse, a substantial drop in income, a decline in health, and a change in functional status. We also examine whether the support parents received from their children in times of need is greater for those who expected their children to provide help. In other words, is the confidence that parents have that their children will step to the fore when they need help warranted? THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL BACKGROUND Scholars have brought to bear a number of theoretical perspectives to explain why individuals give help to family members. One common explanation focuses on altruistic or benevolent behavior, which arises out of the attachments between family members (Becker 1974, 1991; Becker & Tomes, 1976). The basic idea is that because they care about their children, parents monitor their children's well-being and make transfers when needed to modify that well-being. Although Becker's original model is centered around the benevolence of parents, there is no reason why it cannot be generalized to account for the motives of other family members. Likewise, Bengtson's hypothesis of the generational stake suggests that flows of support should be directed primarily toward younger generations, although norms for all forms of solidarity are bidirectional (Bengtson & Schrader, 1982). This explanation seems plausible, but tests of the existence of altruistically motivated patterns of intergenerational exchange have been mixed. Hogan, Eggebeen, and Clogg (1993) found some support for altruistically based exchanges. Other things being equal, adult children with widowed or infirm parents gave more than children whose parents were not widowed or in poor health. However, a number of other studies find little support for altruistically based models of intergenerational resource flows (Cox, 1987; Cox & Rank, 1992; MacDonald, 1989). In contrast to altruistic models of intergenerational support is the idea that the flow of resources is largely determined by exchange relationships between parent and child. …