TY - JOUR
T1 - Returns on Lifetime Investments in Children in Egypt
AU - Cunningham, Solveig A.
AU - Yount, Kathryn M.
AU - Engelman, Michal
AU - Agree, Emily
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported in part by a grant from the Gender Economic Research and Policy Analysis (GERPA) initiative of the World Bank. The authors thank Zeinab Khadr for her contributions to data collection and local expertise.
PY - 2013/4
Y1 - 2013/4
N2 - Parental expectations about the companionship and assistance they will receive in later life from their children are key considerations in family formation decisions. We explore patterns of parents' investment and the support and contact they receive from adult children in Egypt, where fertility is falling and sources of support at all life stages are in flux. Using data from a survey of older adults in Ismailia governorate, we consider parents' past investments in childbearing, child survival, and children's education and marriage, as well as recent assistance to adult children via housing, care for grandchildren, gifts, and money. The returns from children considered include economic assistance, instrumental support, and visits. Most parental investments are associated with frequent visits from children. The assistance children provide to parents is gendered: sons tend to provide economic transfers, whereas daughters tend to provide instrumental help. A greater number of surviving children is most strongly associated with parents' receipt of multiple types of later-life returns. Investments in children's education and marriage are not associated with assistance, but recent assistance to children-especially economic transfers and provision of housing-is associated with receiving instrumental assistance from adult children.
AB - Parental expectations about the companionship and assistance they will receive in later life from their children are key considerations in family formation decisions. We explore patterns of parents' investment and the support and contact they receive from adult children in Egypt, where fertility is falling and sources of support at all life stages are in flux. Using data from a survey of older adults in Ismailia governorate, we consider parents' past investments in childbearing, child survival, and children's education and marriage, as well as recent assistance to adult children via housing, care for grandchildren, gifts, and money. The returns from children considered include economic assistance, instrumental support, and visits. Most parental investments are associated with frequent visits from children. The assistance children provide to parents is gendered: sons tend to provide economic transfers, whereas daughters tend to provide instrumental help. A greater number of surviving children is most strongly associated with parents' receipt of multiple types of later-life returns. Investments in children's education and marriage are not associated with assistance, but recent assistance to children-especially economic transfers and provision of housing-is associated with receiving instrumental assistance from adult children.
KW - Aging
KW - Childbearing
KW - Egypt
KW - Intergenerational relations
KW - Investments
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U2 - 10.1007/s13524-012-0147-3
DO - 10.1007/s13524-012-0147-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 23132635
AN - SCOPUS:84875401187
SN - 0070-3370
VL - 50
SP - 699
EP - 724
JO - Demography
JF - Demography
IS - 2
ER -