Personas mayores y solidaridad familiar

Abstract

Ageing is a feature of modern societies. The increase in life expectancy, together with the decrease in fertility rates in Western societies, is leading to the weakening of traditional intergenerational family structures. The diversity in family forms, values, norms, and behaviours has increased. The coexistence of several generations allows family members to maintain longer the different family statuses and roles. Despite social changes in family relations, existing research shows that the family continues to be a fundamental social institution in the support of persons in need of it. Transfers of goods and services –including care- continues to be common practice within families, showing that intergenerational family solidarity remains a feature in contemporary societies. In the paper, some of the outcomes on family transfers obtained in the context of the European research “Old Age and Autonomy: The Role of Social Services System and Intergenerational Family Solidarity”, are presented.