Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
ISA World Congress of Sociology, Melbourne, Avustralya, 25 Haziran 2023, ss.157
As life expectancy increases, parents and their children enjoy longer years together, and intergenerational support exchanges continue to have a significant influence in later life. Most research has studied the upward flow of support from adult children to their older parents in need of care, even though the downward flow of support continues into children’s transition to adulthood . Additionally, the impacts of crises on the lives of both generations also shape the nature of these flows. The objective of this qualitative study is to examine how and to what extent parental support to adult children in later life is provided in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis in Turkey. To study how these intersecting crises have affected support exchanges between generations, in-depth interviews with 20 older mothers and 14 fathers from families of different socioeconomic backgrounds were conducted . We gathered data from parents on their support provision to each of their adult children by employing a within-family approach . Thus, we had the opportunity to understand, in the face of life-altering crises, which adult children are prioritized by their older parents and for which type(s) of support . Preliminary findings show that adult children’s specific needs related to health events, childcare, job loss, and financial difficulties, and also older parents’ health and financial capabilities, shaped the nature of downward flows, but only to certain children. This means that parental favoritism is influenced not only by parents’ attitudes towards their specific adult children but also children’s needs altered by multiple and intersecting crises