Gender Dimensions of Support for Elderly in Vietnam

Abstract

Although women and the elderly are assumed to be disadvantaged in much of the world, systematic empirical studies of gender differences in well-being among the elderly are rare. This article examines gender differences in elderly support and socio-economic well-being in Vietnam using census and survey data. Sources of support examined include work, nonfamilial support, and especially familial support including living arrangements. The authors consider the gender of the support recipient and provider. Substantial regional differences in the patriarchal/patrilineal family system, manifested in the wide regional variation in coresidence with married sons rather than daughters, make Vietnam a particularly interesting context for the study. The receipt of intergenerational transfers shows little variation across gender once the mediating effect of marital status differences is controlled. Gender differences in economic well-being, as measured by household wealth and self-perceptions of economic satisfaction, are modest, especially when marital status and age are controlled.