Forschungsgruppe Altern und Lebenslauf (FALL)

Veröffentlichungen: Künemund/Rein 1999

Künemund, Harald & Martin Rein (1999): There is more to receiving than needing: Theoretical arguments and empirical explorations of crowding in and crowding out. In: Ageing and Society, 19, 93-121.

Recent literature on intergenerational relations – although giving different explanations – suggest that the giving of money and services to children reinforces the receiving of money and services by the elderly. To explore the flow of support between the generations we present evidence about the type and intensity of the help that the elderly receive from their adult children and their families. By comparing five developed countries we examine whether the amount of family help transferred to the elderly is shaped by a "crowding out" process, in which more generous welfare systems displace family solidarity. Taking co-residence into account the international comparison does not support the crowding out hypothesis. We then show that the giving of services by the elderly to their adult children increases the probability to receive help from them. This indirectly supports the reverse hypothesis, namely that the relationship between the state and the family may be described as a process of "crowding in": Generous welfare systems give resources to the elderly that help to increase rather than undermine family solidarity.

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