WITHIN-FAMILY DIFFERENCES IN INTERGENERATIONAL CONTACT: THE ROLE OF GENDER NORMS IN A PATRILINEAL SOCIETY

Abstract

Abstract Intergenerational contact is important for older adults’ quality of life. However, few studies have examined older adults’ patterns of intergenerational contact across multiple children and whether these patterns are gendered within families, which has been a distinct characteristic in countries with patrilineal traditions. A sample of older adults aged 65 and above with mixed-gender children (N = 3,228) from the 2006 Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing reported the frequency of meeting and communication with each of their children (N = 14,110). To identify “within-family” patterns of contact, we applied latent profile analysis to three family-level indicators of contact across children: (a) family means, (b) family standard deviations, and (c) gender differences between sons and daughters. Multinomial logit regression was estimated to examine differences in parents’ characteristics between the derived patterns. Nearly half of parents exhibited gender-balanced patterns of meeting across children: “equally high contact” (14%) and “equally low contact” (34%). We also found two gendered patterns of contact: “more frequent contact with daughters” (13%) and “more frequent contact with sons” (39%). Communication also exhibited similar four patterns across children with a higher proportion of “equally high contact” (77%). The derived patterns of contact differed by parents’ age, education, marital status, employment situation, and depressive symptoms. The results highlighted substantial within-family differences in older parents’ contact with their children, revealing more frequent contact with sons. This points to the enduring nature of patrilineal traditions as well as the lack of frequent physical contact in some Korean families.