The long-term rewards of parenting: Older adults’ marital history and the likelihood of receiving support from adult children

摘要

This study investigates support provided to older parents by non-resident children and compares older adults in various living arrangements, based on a typology of current partner status, marital history and gender. Data come from the Dutch 1992 survey on older adults living arrangements and social networks (NESTOR-LSN). The 4494 respondents constituted a random sample of men and women born in the years 1903 to 1937. The findings, based on those with ADL- and/or IADL-limitations and with living children (N=2182), point out that ever-divorced men, regardless of whether they have repartnered, receive only marginal help from their children. Among those without new partners, 8 percent of the ever-divorced men and 22 percent of the ever-divorced women cite children as sources of help, while this is so for 45 percent of the ever-widowed men and 53 percent of the ever-widowed women. Multivariate analyses revealed that health, educational level, number of children and travel distance are significant predictors of support from children, in addition to the significant and important contribution of marital history, partner status and gender.