Filial Piety,Intimacy,and Inter-Generational Contract: Understanding the Family Support to Rural Empty-Nest Older Parents in China

Abstract

With massive internal migration and changing family ethics, the increasing empty-nest older parents in rural China faced challenges in receiving family care. While state policies emphasize filial responsibilities in supporting empty-nest older parents, it’s crucial to understand how such family support can be developed. This study explored how filial piety, intimacy, and inter-generational contract might achieve family support to rural empty-nest parents, as well as the interactions between these approaches. Utilizing a sample of 852 rural empty-nest older parents from the 2018 Chinese General Social Survey, we found that inter-generational contract and family intimacy are efficient in achieving family support for these older parents, with filial piety being comparatively less efficient. Moreover, these approaches mutually reinforce each other rather than being contradictory. These findings have policy implications, highlighting the significance of governmental support in facilitating inter-generational exchange and nurturing family intimacy to promote family support within empty-nest families.

Keywords

family support empty-nest older parents filial piety intimacy inter-generational contract

Introduction

Ever since the economic reforms in the 1980s, accelerated migration and urbanization and growing nuclear-family values have re-shaped family structure and family life in China. Many adult children moved out of the stem families, separated from older parents but lived in the same villages or cities with them, and some of them even migrated far away and settled in other cities because of employment, education, and improvement in finance (He & Ye, 2014; Yan, 2016). In this context, a large number of empty-nest older parents have emerged in rural regions, who live alone in separated households with adult children. According to the statistics published by the Seventh National Census in 2020, the number of rural empty-nest families merely comprised of older adults over 60, including who live with their left-behind grandchildren, has exceeded 40.3 million, accounting for 21.9% of the total rural families, and this number will increase with the accelerating population aging in China.

These empty-nest parents in rural China faced many challenges regarding family care in their later lives. Due to insufficient support from governments such as limited benefits of public pensions, and the lack of public services and institutional support, rural empty-nest parents who are most likely to fall in poverty have to rely on children in their later lives (Li et al., 2021). But geographical separation and children’s migration made it hard to respond to the needs of their older parents and provide adequate care and emotional support. Even for the rural empty-nest parents living in the same villages with their children or who move to children’s cities and live near them, as the family ethics of filial piety have faded in modern China, supporting older parents is often perceived as under the precondition of parents’ downward transfer to children (Whyte, 2004; Yan, 2003). Despite the difficulties in fulfilling family-based care in rural China, the existing policies still treat family members as the primary source of care for older parents. Family support to older parents was much emphasized in policy discourses, such as in the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Elderly People, and policies on home-based and community-based care services (Feng, 2017). Besides, to enhance family support to the aging population in China has thus become a key goal in the outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan of the Chinese government.

As for how to develop family support for rural empty-nest older parents, three theoretical approaches could be adopted. The first approach is “filial piety,” a tradition of old-age support in East Asia that requires children’s respect, gratitude, and absolute obedience to their older parents (Yeh & Bedford, 2003). Raising parents in their old age is an obligation for each child only because of parents’ authority and previous parenting (Gu, 2022; Qiu et al., 2022). The second approach is “intimacy,” which refers to a new kind of mutual knowing, understanding, and emotional sharing across generational lines (Yan, 2016). Unlike filial piety, intimacy is characterized by mutual trust and respect on an equal footing among family members. In this regard, family care can be considered to express love and concern and maintain family relationships (Boris, 2010). The third approach is the “inter-generational contract,” which highlights the binding nature of inter-generational exchange in Chinese families (Davis & Harrell, 1993). According to this contract, supporting older parents is a bidirectional exchange of resources that aims to achieve some level of equity, and older parents must contribute to their children’s families if they want to live with and be supported by their children (Gu, 2022; Jiang et al., 2013).

With the thriving marketization and transformation of family ethics, the inter-generational contract has gradually become the primary trend in explaining family support. Supporting older parents is less a filial obligation but more likely to be a bidirectional exchange of resources (Gu, 2022; Jiang et al., 2013; Zheng, 2019). However, even though the constraints of filial norms have somewhat declined, they remain as an influence on the culture of Chinese families. With the transformation in the inter-generational relationship, thriving family intimacy might also encourage mutual assistance in Chinese families (Zhong & Li, 2019). We therefore set out to explore in this article how the three approaches may explain family support in rural empty-nest families and how we could draw on them to further develop family support for the rural empty-nest older parents.

Literature Review

Family Support for the Empty-Nest Parents in China

Family support, which refers to the informal support from family members, mainly spouses, and children, has played an essential role in providing old-age care to Chinese older parents. As “raising sons for support in later life” has been deeply rooted in Chinese society, most Chinese older people give priority to family support and expect to be cared for by family members rather than care institutions (Bai, 2019; Chen & Silverstein, 2000). As for family support in rural empty-nest families, most studies focused on how older parents’ departure from children impacts their family support. They revealed that geographical separations between generations might diminish the care support for rural empty-nest parents, but long-distance caregiving could still be provided in families as migrant children maintain a commitment to filial piety and parental wellbeing (Guo et al., 2009; Knodel et al., 2000).

However, living arrangements might not diminish children’s financial support, as migrant children could compensate for their separation and provide consistent financial support by remitting money back (Guo et al., 2009; Lin & Pei, 2016). Moreover, several studies have primarily examined the negative effects of empty-nest status on the physical and mental health of older adults. They have revealed that living alone and lacking family support can lead to poorer mental health and reduced overall quality of life, while weekly in-person and distant contact help to release these problems (Li et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2023). Nevertheless, existing studies have overlooked the exploration of how family support is achieved in empty-nest families, particularly within the context of changing family ethics. Specifically, the role of family interactions, such as resource exchanges and emotional connections, in facilitating support from their adult children remains understudied.

Approaches to Develop Family Support in Empty-Nest Families

As for further developing family support in empty-nest families in rural China, existing literature provided us with three theoretical approaches, which explained how family support could be provided and the related determinants. Filial piety is a traditional approach to explaining family support in Chinese society. Its cultural influence can regulate the behaviors of Chinese families to achieve family support. The patrilineal filial norms have shaped gendered patterns of family support, which require sons to be the primary caregivers (Hu, 2017; Qiu et al., 2022). Some scholars highlighted the binding nature of traditional filial ethics, they found children’s attitude to parents’ authority and filial obligation might achieve different results in family support, especially in finance (Hu, 2018).

Family intimacy is another approach that emphasizes the emotional interactions and intensive kinship between older parents and adult children. In intimate relationships, the interactions of family members depend on the particularized knowledge received and attention from at least one person, which is not widely available to third parties (Zelizer, 2007). Intimate relationships can stimulate emotional cohesion between generations and promote family solidarity. Some evidence showed better relationships with children and more emotional interactions can lead to a higher level of family support for older parents (Wei and Zhong, 2016; Zhong & Li, 2019). Moreover, the inter-generational relationship is associated with care expectations, which means parents who often have face-to-face contact with adult children have more expectations of filial responsibilities (Bai, 2019).

The inter-generational contract is the approach that emphasizes the inter-generational resource exchange. Most studies confirmed that parental investment in children via financial and instrumental ways positively impacts children’s old-age financial and care support. (Sun, 2002; Wei & Zhong, 2016). However, some scholars think this association is ambiguous because it could be established only in the family where parents have a higher level of authority or closeness with children (Lin & Pei, 2016). Besides, some scholars found grandparent care could encourage children’s emotional and financial support, but daughters might be more emotionally responsive than sons in this situation (Cong & Silverstein, 2014; Zheng, 2019). While a contradictory conclusion stated grandparent care could not bring more financial support because children who need parental care support could struggle financially and couldn’t increase financial support to their parents (Cong & Silverstein, 2012).

However, in Chinese rural empty-nest families, the inter-generational contract has faced a great challenge and is hard to sustain. Rural-urban migration eroded the filial obligation and reduced the receipt of informal care and weekly in-person contact among generations (Li et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2023). Moreover, the resource deficiency made rural empty-nest parents less likely to assist children with financial needs (Gu, 2022; Qiu et al., 2022). In this case, filial piety and intimacy could be more efficient approaches to develop family support for them. Meanwhile, the cultural influence of filial piety and intimacy could guide family members’ behaviors and impact the inter-generational contract (Gu, 2022; Zhong & Li, 2019). Despite of this, existing studies rarely compared these three approaches nor explored how they could explain family support for older parents. Besides, the interactions of these three approaches were also rarely explored. To fill these research gaps, this study focused on how to develop family support in rural empty-nest families and explored the following questions: How could these three approaches explain and achieve family support for rural empty-nest parents? How could these three approaches interact with each other? Could the approaches of filial piety and intimacy weaken or partially replace the inter-generational contract?

Theoretical Framework

To compare the three approaches to achieving family support in rural empty-nest families, we constructed a theoretical framework (see Figure 1) that illustrates how these approaches contribute to providing family support for older parents and their interactions during this process. Previous studies have indicated that the inter-generational contract is commonly employed to provide family support in rural China (Davis & Harrell, 1993). However, despite changing family ethics, traditional filial norms continue to guide children’s behavior, and the cultivation of intimate relationships can foster solidarity within Chinese families (Yan, 2016).

Inter-Generational Contract in Rural Empty-Nest Families

According to this contract, older parents must invest in children and contribute to their families continuously if they hope to be cared for by children in later life. This investment included the financial transfer at earlier and current stages, such as tuition fees, marriage expenses, and house purchasing, and the time investment on family care, such as daily issues and grandparent care (Cong & Silverstein, 2012; Davis & Harrell, 1993). In rural empty-nest families, even though the foundation of family exchange was weakened by geographical separation, the inter-generational contract could still work in achieving family support for rural empty-nest parents. Due to modern society’s advances in transportation and communication, extended family relations and resource exchange can be maintained over great geographical distances (Gu, 2022; Li et al., 2021). For example, children could still provide long-distance care to maintain a commitment to filial piety, and some parents might migrate to children’s families and assist in grandparent care and other daily issues (Cong & Silverstein, 2012; Knodel et al., 2000). Accordingly, we could put up Hypothesis 1: Inter-generational contract can still achieve family support to rural empty-nest older parents. Parental financial investment at earlier stage and parental financial and care support at current stage can positively affect children’s financial and care support to their older parents.

Filial Piety, Intimacy and their Interactions with the Contract

Even though the inter-generational contract might exist, filial piety and family intimacy could be efficient in achieving family support to rural empty-nest older parents. Traditional Chinese filial piety highlighted the absolute obedience to parents’ authority, which entailed suppressing children’s wishes and complying with their parent’s wishes because of their seniority in physical, financial or social terms, as well as continuing the family lineage and maintaining parents’ reputation because of the force of role requirements (Qiu et al., 2022; Yeh & Bedford, 2003). In this case, children with more recognition of filial piety might be more obedient and more likely to support their parents unconditionally. Besides, family intimacy is based on personal emotions and cohesion of kinship, which cannot be hindered by geographical separation. The intimate relationship and frequent emotional communication could encourage children to provide family support to their parents and express their concerns (Zhong & Li, 2019). However, these two approaches might contradict the resource exchange and economic rationality in the inter-generational contract. The filial obligations require children to support their parents without any precondition and even sacrifice their benefits to satisfy older parents. As for the relationship between intimacy and economic exchange, some scholars stated that the intimate relationship and rational economic behavior could contaminate each other because they are in separate, hostile worlds (Zelizer, 2007). As a result, children could voluntarily support their older parents without any expectation of return only because of their emotional connections. Grounded on this evidence, we can propose two hypotheses:

Hypothesis 2: The approaches of filial piety and intimacy can efficiently achieve the family support to rural empty-nest older parents, and recognition of filial piety and intimacy can encourage children to provide more financial and care support to their older parents.

Hypothesis 3: The approaches of filial piety and intimacy can weaken and partially replace the inter-generational contract, and children’s recognition of filial piety and intimacy can negatively moderate the relationship between parental support and children’s family support.

Research Methods

Sample

This study employed data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), which has been launched regularly since 2003 and is the earliest national representative continuous survey project in mainland China. Mainly conducted by the National Survey Research Center at the Renmin University of China, CGSS aimed to systematically monitor the changing relationship between social structure and quality of life in urban and rural China. Using a multi-stage stratified sampling design, it recruited a large nationally representative sample of adults aged 18 years and older and required them to finish the questionnaires.

To explore the family support of empty-nest older parents in rural China, this study was based on an analysis of the latest 2018 pilot survey of CGSS, which includes more than 12,000 respondents. Adult children with empty-nest older parents living in rural regions were selected as target respondents from the original sample of CGSS 2018. They should meet the following requirements: (1) Aged 18 and above, with at least one parent alive and over mandatory Chinese age for retirement (aged 60 and above for men; 55 and above for women). (2) Their older parents hold rural household registrations and permanent residents in rural China. (3) They live apart from their older parents, within at least a 15-min walk distance. (4) They should provide regular old-age support to parents in any domain of finance or caregiving. By setting a series of selective questions from the questionnaire of CGSS 2018, there were a total of 852 respondents selected in this study. The ages of respondents range from 26 to 64, with a mean of 46.98 and a median of 46.00. About one-third of respondents (36.73%) have a distance within 30 minutes’ drive from their parents, and only some of the respondents (25.59%) have a distance of more than 3 hours’ drive.

Measurement

Children’s Old-Age Support to their Older Parents

We first measured the dependent variable, the children’s old-age support to the older parents. Participants in the survey were asked about their frequency of providing financial transfer (DV1) and care support (DV2), such as providing daily care, helping with household chores, or caring for other family members to older parents last year, with the value of 1 indicating “often or very often,” 2 indicating “sometimes,” and 3 indicating “very few or never.”

Parental Support to Children at Earlier and Current Stages

Then we measured the independent variables. Firstly, the older parents’ support to their children was described in two domains of earlier and current stages. Parental financial investment at earlier stage (IV1) was measured by parents’ downward financial transfer since their children got married, including financial support on house renting or purchasing and doing business (so much = 1, some = 2, and rarely = 3). Parental financial and care support at current stage was measured by the frequency of parents’ financial transfer (IV2) and care support (IV3) to children’s families last year (often or very often = 1; sometimes = 2; and very few or never = 3).

The Approaches of Filial Piety and Family Intimacy

The approach of filial piety was measured by children’s recognition of filial piety (IV4). CGSS has applied a scale with seven items to measure respondents’ attitudes toward filial piety. It is similar to the scale in Yeh’s study that tested the dual filial piety model (Yeh & Bedford, 2003). Referred to Yeh’s research, we picked up five items that can better represent the meanings of authoritative filial ethics, including (a) The family authority of fathers should be respected in any case; (b) Do something to glorify the family; (c) Give birth to at least one son for the succession of the family name; (d) Be kind and nice to parent regardless of how badly they have treated one, and (e) Give up their own plans for the future to comply with parents’ wishes and expectations. Next, respondents were asked about to what extent they agreed or disagreed with the statement of each item (can’t agree more = 1; quite agree = 2; partly agree = 3; it doesn’t matter = 4; partly disagree = 5; quite disagree = 6; and can’t disagree more = 7), then all five items’ score would be summed up to describe respondents’ attitude toward filial piety. Thirdly, the approach of family intimacy (IV5) was measured by emotional interactions between generations. Respondents were asked about: (a) their frequency of listening to their parents’ thoughts or worries last year and (b) their parents’ frequency of listening to children’s thoughts or concerns last year (often or very often = 1; sometimes = 2; and very few or never = 3), then two items’ score would be summed up to describe the extent of the intimate relationship.

Control Variables

According to the existing studies on determinants of children’s family support, several variables have been controlled in statistical models such as children’s gender (male = 0 and female = 1), the number of children, children’s financial status (above the average = 1; at the average level = 2; below the average = 3; and far below the average = 4), and living distance from children’s residence (more than 3 hours’ drive = 1; 1–3 hours’ drive = 2; 30 minutes’ to 1 hour’s drive = 3; and with 30 minutes’ drive = 4).

Data Analysis

The data analyses have been carried out using Stata (version 16.0). Descriptive statistics was applied firstly to present the general situation of variables. To evaluate the association between parental support at earlier and current stages and their children’s financial and care support, we built an Ordinal Logistic Regression model, as two dependent variables were categorical with three groups and the results of the Brant test showed the three categories satisfied the proportional odds assumption. Then in each pair of relationships, the moderating effects of children’s recognition of filial piety and family intimacy were explored. Besides, as CGSS applied a multi-stage stratified sampling design, we have incorporated probability weights provided in datasets into the analysis to enhance its robustness.

Results

Descriptive Statistics

Table 1 presented the result of descriptive statistics. Most of the respondents (72.18%) often or sometimes provided financial support to their older parents last year, which is similar to the ratio of respondents who often or sometimes provided care support (65.97%). As for parental investment, more than half of respondents (51.29%) received much or some parental financial investment at earlier stage, only 20.07% reported they sometimes, and 15.73% reported they often received care support from parents last year. Most respondents (78.17%) reported receiving very little or no financial support from parents last year. Besides, respondents were likely to agree with the authoritative filial norms (mean = 12.42).

Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics (N = 852).

Variables	Frequency/Mean	Percentage/SD
Dependent variables
Children’s financial transfer to parents last year (DV1)
Often or very often	296	34.74%
Sometimes	319	37.44%
Very few or never	237	28.72%
Children’s care support to parents last year (DV2)
Often or very often	283	33.22%
Sometimes	279	32.75%
Very few or never	290	34.04%
Independent variables
Parental financial investment at earlier stage (IV1)
So much	35	4.11%
Some	402	47.18%
Rarely	415	48.71%
Parental financial support at the current stage (IV2)
Often or very often	69	8.10%
Sometimes	117	13.73%
Very few or never	666	78.17%
Parental care support at the current stage (IV3)
Often or very often	134	15.73%
Sometimes	171	20.07%
Very few or never	547	64.20%
Recognition of filial piety (IV4)	12.42	11.70
Family intimacy (IV5)	4.13	1.91
Controlled variables
Children’s gender
Male	389	45.66%
Female	463	54.34%
Distance from parents’ residence
With 30 minutes’ drive	313	36.73%
30 minutes’ to 1 hour’s drive	160	18.78%
1–3 hours’ drive	161	18.90%
More than 3 hours’ drive	218	25.59%
Children’s financial status
Above the average	31	3.64%
At the average level	423	49.65%
Below the average	311	36.50%
Far below the average	87	10.21%
Age	46.98	71.11
The number of siblings	2.90	3.16

Examination of the Inter-Generational Contract

Table 2 presented the result of Ordinal Logistic Regression models. Model I (χ² (9) = 89.46, p < .001) and Model II (χ² (9) = 190.04, p < .001) were both statistically significant, and their McFadden’s pseudo R2 were 0.053 and 0.135, respectively. Controlling children’s gender, financial status, number of siblings, and distance from their parent’s residence, we tested the main effects of parents’ earlier financial investment and their current financial and care support on children’s financial and care support to them. We found that parental financial investment at earlier stage is positively associated with both children’s financial and care support (β = 0.017, p < .05; β = 0.024, p < .001). Compared with those who rarely received parental financial investments since they married, adult children who have received some or many investments at earlier stage are more likely to provide more financial and care support to older parents. As for parental investment at current stage, the correlation between parental financial support at current stage and children’s financial support is not significant statistically, but parental care support at current stage is positively associated with both children’s financial and care support (β = 0.174, p < .05; β = 0.234, p < .05). In other words, adult children are more likely to provide a higher level of monetary transfer and caregiving to their parents if they receive more frequent care support from parents. In conclusion, the results indicated that the inter-generational contract can still achieve family support to rural empty-nest older parents, which mainly confirmed our Hypothesis 1.

Table 2.

Result of Main Effects Models.

	Model I		Model II
	DV1 Financial Transfer		DV2 care Support
	β	SE	β	SE
IV1 parental financial investment at earlier stage	0.017*	0.008	0.024***	0.004
IV2 parental financial support at current stage	0.006	0.010	0.003	0.005
IV3 parental care support at current stage	0.174*	0.080	0.234*	0.093
IV4 recognition of filial piety	−0.009	0.024	0.010	0.021
IV5 family intimacy	0.319***	0.061	0.525***	0.064
IV6 distance from parent’s residence	−0.002	0.042	−0.290***	0.048
IV7 children’s financial status	0.138*	0.119	−0.024	0.103
IV8 children’s gender	0.521**	0.155	−0.112	0.155
IV9 the number of siblings	−0.014	0.044	−0.001	0.045
N	852		852
Pseudo R2	0.053		0.135

Notes: β, standardized regression coefficient. SE, standard error.

Significant levels: *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

Examination of Filial Piety and Intimacy

As for the other approaches to achieving family support, children’s recognition of filial piety doesn’t correlate with their family support statistically, but family intimacy has significant positive associations with children’s financial and care support (β = 0.319, p < .001; β = 0.525, p < .001). Specifically, children who are more intimate with their parents are more likely to provide a higher level of financial and care support. As a result, we found that the approach of intimacy can explain family support to rural empty-nest older parents while the approach of filial piety might not, and Hypothesis 2 was partially confirmed.

Examination of the Control Variables

As for the regression results of control variables, we found that geographical distance between generations is negatively associated with children care support (β = −0.290, p < .001), but it doesn’t affect children’s upward financial transfer. The better financial status could make children provide more upward financial transfer (β = 0.138, p < .05), but it doesn’t affect children’s care support to parents. Besides, there is a significant gendered difference that stated sons could be more likely to provide a higher level of monetary transfer to empty-nest parents compared with daughters (β = 0.521, p < .01), but there is no difference for them in providing care support. These results above are generally consistent with existing studies about Chinese rural families. Still, interestingly we also found that the number of respondents’ siblings doesn’t impact their financial and care support to empty-nest parents.

The Moderating Effects of Recognition of Filial Piety

Table 3 presented the result of moderation models. Based on the main effects models (Models I and II), we employed the independent variables of parental financial investment at earlier stage (IV1) and parental care support at current stage (IV3) and two moderators of filial piety (IV4) and family intimacy (IV5), then set up four interaction items (IV1*IV4, IV3*IV4, IV1*IV5, and IV3*IV5). Eight moderation models (Models III to X) were established in the examination of moderating effects, all of these regression models were examined to be significant statistically, but only four models (Models IV, VII, VIII, and IX) were examined to have significant moderating effects.

Table 3.

Result of Moderation Models.

	Model III	Model IV	Model V	Model VI
	DV1 Financial Transfer	DV1 Financial Transfer	DV2 Care Support	DV2 Care Support
IV1 parental financial investment at earlier stage	0.025* (0.012)	0.018* (0.008)	0.028* (0.014)	0.024*** (0.004)
IV2 parental financial support at current stage	0.005 (0.010)	0.006 (0.010)	0.003 (0.006)	0.003 (0.005)
IV3 parental care support at current stage	0.173* (0.080)	0.166* (0.079)	0.234* (0.093)	0.232* (0.093)
IV4 recognition of filial piety	−0.009 (0.024)	−0.006 (0.024)	0.010 (0.021)	0.013 (0.021)
IV5 family intimacy	0.318*** (0.061)	0.316*** (0.061)	0.525*** (0.064)	0.522*** (0.065)
IV6 distance from children’s residence	−0.003 (0.043)	−0.006 (0.042)	−0.290*** (0.048)	−0.290*** (0.048)
IV7 children’s financial status	0.141* (0.119)	0.124* (0.120)	−0.023 (0.103)	−0.028 (0.103)
IV8 children’s gender	0.527**(0.156)	0.521**(0.155)	−0.111 (0.155)	−0.114 (0.155)
IV9 the number of siblings	−0.013 (0.044)	−0.017 (0.045)	0.001 (0.045)	−0.002 (0.046)
IV1*IV4	0.002 (0.002)		0.001 (0.002)
IV3*IV4		0.035* (0.020)		0.019 (0.017)
N	852	852	852	852
Pseudo R2	0.053	0.056	0.135	0.136
	Model VII	Model VIII	Model IX	Model X
IV1 parental financial investment at earlier stage	0.027* (0.012)	0.018* (0.008)	0.029* (0.014)	0.024*** (0.004)
IV2 parental financial support at the current stage	0.003 (0.010)	0.007 (0.010)	0.002 (0.006)	0.003 (0.005)
IV3 parental care support at the current stage	0.183* (0.080)	0.151* (0.080)	0.246* (0.093)	0.232* (0.093)
IV4 recognition of filial piety	−0.011 (0.024)	−0.008 (0.024)	0.007 (0.022)	0.013 (0.021)
IV5 family intimacy	0.351*** (0.069)	0.318*** (0.061)	0.576*** (0.071)	0.522*** (0.065)
IV6 distance from children’s residence	−0.006 (0.043)	−0.003 (0.042)	−0.289*** (0.049)	−0.290*** (0.048)
IV7 Children’s financial status	0.138* (0.119)	0.141* (0.118)	−0.033 (0.106)	−0.028 (0.103)
IV8 Children’s gender	0.528** (0.156)	0.529** (0.155)	−0.105 (0.156)	−0.114 (0.155)
IV9 The number of siblings	−0.008 (0.044)	−0.010 (0.044)	0.008 (0.045)	−0.002 (0.046)
IV1*IV5	0.078* (0.079)		0.126* (0.082)
IV3*IV5		0.042* (0.031)		0.019 (0.017)
N	852	852	852	852
Pseudo R2	0.054	0.054	0.137	0.136

Note. Regression coefficient (β) was standardized and standard error was displayed in the brackets.

Significant levels: ^*p < .05, ^**p < .01, and ^***p < .001.

Models III to VI examined the moderating effects of children’s recognition of filial piety. The interaction items in Models III, V, and VI are not statistically significant, so these three models were examined to have no significant moderating effects. But in Model IV, the interaction item of parents’ current care support and children’s recognition of filial piety (IV3*IV4) is positively associated with children’s financial support (β = 0.035, p < .05). That means children’s recognition of filial piety can moderate the relationship between parental care support at current stage and children’s financial support. After receiving care support from older parents at current stage, children with stronger recognition of filial piety could be more likely to provide a higher level of financial support to their older parents.

The Moderating Effects of Family Intimacy

Models VII to X examined the moderating effects of family intimacy. In Model VII, the interaction item of parental financial investment at earlier stage and family intimacy (IV1*IV5) is positively associated with children’s financial support (β = 0.078*, p < .05), and it also has a positive association with children’s care support in Model IX (β = 0.126, p < .05). As a result, family intimacy has moderating effects on the relationship between earlier parental investment and children’s financial support, and the relationship between parental earlier investment and children’s care support. With the increase in family intimacy, the original relationship between parental earlier financial investment and children’s financial or care support will increase accordingly. After older parents invested in their children at earlier stage, their children who are more intimate with them are more likely to provide them with a higher level of financial and care support at current stage.

In Model VIII, the interaction item of parental care support at current stage and family intimacy (IV3*IV5) is positively associated with children’s financial support (β = 0.042, p < .05). So, family intimacy can moderate the relationship between parental current care support and children’s financial support. After receiving parental care support at current stage, children who are more intimate with parents could be more likely to provide them with a higher level of financial support. But in Model X, the interaction item of parental care support at current stages and family intimacy (IV3*IV5) is not associated with children’s care support, which means family intimacy may not moderate the relationship between parents’ current care support and children’s care support. To conclude, we found children’s recognition of filial piety and the intimate relationship could promote inter-generational exchange in rural empty-nest families. The approaches of filial piety and intimacy might not replace but strengthen the inter-generational contract when they achieved family support for rural empty-nest older parents, so Hypothesis 3 in our study should be rejected.

Discussion

Through Ordinal Logistic Regression analyses, we compared three approaches of filial piety, intimacy, and inter-generational contract and explored how they could interact with each other. Our Hypothesis 1 was mainly supported by data, and the approach of inter-generational contract can still achieve family support to rural empty-nest older parents. This finding is consistent with many empirical studies on inter-generational exchange in Chinese families, which confirmed that parental investment via financial and instrumental ways positively impacts children’s old-age financial and care support. (Lin & Pei, 2016; Sun, 2002; Wei & Zhong, 2015). The reason why this contract can exist in rural empty-nest families could be that migration does not necessarily reduce inter-generational solidarity. So empty-nest parents and their migrant children could still be involved in each other’s lives and inter-depend on finance and caregiving to cope with life crises (Gu, 2022; Yan, 2016). Another reason could be the fast development of transportation and communication devices in China, which made them be able to migrate to and care for each other regularly.

In Hypothesis 2, only the intimacy was examined to be able to achieve family support to rural empty-nest older parents. Family intimacy can encourage children to provide a higher level of financial and care support to children, while children’s recognition of filial piety cannot. This finding is consistent with existing literature that the inter-generational relationship among family members can significantly encourage financial transfer and instrumental help from children (Chen & Silverstein, 2000). But it is contradictory to the studies that revealed the authoritative filial norms could emphasize children’s obligation and promote their financial support (Wei & Zhong, 2015). The reason for this could be the erosion of filial norms by children’s migration and the increase in the need for intimacy and resource exchange in Chinese families (Hu, 2018; Zhong & Li, 2019). As the binding effect of filial piety was weakened, when three approaches were included in the regression equations, the inter-generational contract and intimacy could explain more variation in family support, and the effects of filial piety could not be statistically significant.

As for Hypothesis 3, we explored the interactions of three approaches. We hypothesized filial piety and intimacy could weaken the inter-generational contract, but in fact, the result showed they could strengthen the contract. For children with stronger recognition of filial piety, they tend to provide more financial support to their older parents when receiving parents’ care support. This finding can be explained by the “feedback mode,” which is based on the traditional authoritative filial norms. It regulated the obligations of parents’ raising and children’s family support and defined parents’ bearing and raising as the most significant contribution children should pay (Qiu et al., 2022). In this way, children with stronger filial recognition could have a greater appreciation of parents’ blessings and sacrifices, which they think is quite enough for them to pay back over a lifetime, so they would provide more family support in return to pay for parents’ generous contributions in their mind. For adult children who are more intimate with their older parents, after receiving parental earlier investment, they could provide with a higher level of financial and care support. When they’ve received parents’ care support at current stage, they are more likely to give older parents more financial transfer in return. These findings can be explained with intimate labor, which often refers to the commercialization of care work but highlights the dual features of payable labor and the emotional interaction of caregiving (Boris, 2010; Gu, 2022). From this perspective, monetary transactions and intimate relationships in social lives are not in conflict. Family care can be defined as intimate labor that needs emotional interactions and doesn’t have to be obligatory and unpaid (Zelizer, 2007). So, time-for-money transfer and other resources exchange can be regarded as efficient approaches to express love, concerns, and appreciation to each other, strengthening the intimate relationship among family members.

Conclusion and Implication

In conclusion, our findings make valuable contributions to the current understanding of family support for both empty-nest and non-empty-nest old-age groups. Firstly, we focused on how to develop family support to rural empty-nest older parents and investigated the role of family relations and interactions, an aspect that has been rarely explored in previous studies. Secondly, we compared and examined the main approaches to achieving family support and their interactions within the context of rural empty-nest families, where providing family support is more challenging compared to non-empty-nest families. It further explored how to promote family support for Chinese rural older adults under the background of changing family ethics and increasing rural-to-urban migration.

Our findings indicate that with the transformation of family ethics, the inter-generational contract and family intimacy have become the main efficient approaches to achieving family support for rural empty-nest older parents. However, the approach of filial piety is less effective in achieving family support than other two approaches. Moreover, these three approaches are mutually reinforcing rather than contradictory to each other. Children’s recognition of filial piety and intimate relationship can promote inter-generational exchange in rural empty-nest families. At the same time, the reinforced inter-generational exchange allows for better fulfilling of filial obligations and promotes intimate relationships among family members.

Our findings also suggest that even in empty-nest families where family interactions are challenging to sustain, resource exchange and family intimacy still play a significant role in providing family support for older adults. Despite geographical separations, empty-nest older parents make efforts to maintain inter-generational contracts and intimate relationships with their children. Therefore, for non-empty-nest older parents who are more likely to live with their children, and thus face fewer difficulties in sustaining family relations and interactions, it is reasonable to speculate that inter-generational contracts and family intimacy are also effective approaches to achieving family support for them. Specifically, time-for-money exchange can be a triggering factor for co-residence, as older parents may migrate to their children’s families to assist with daily chores and grandparent care (Gu, 2022; Zhong & Li, 2019). Moreover, the more frequent face-to-face interactions in non-empty-nest families can foster stronger family relationships, thereby promoting mutual assistance between generations and expressing intimacy (Li et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2023).

All in all, this study also contributes to the policy implication on developing family support for rural empty-nest older parents. As Chinese communists tried to put in place a social security system with Chinese characteristics, the traditional Confucius’s filial piety were frequently mentioned and valued in China’s contemporary social policies (Chow, 1991). In 2012, the Office of the China National Committee on aging joint with other government agencies promulgated the New Twenty-four Filial Exemplars, which recommended 24 filial acts or duties expected of adult children toward their parents that are purported to fit the present-day reality. Since 2007, every two years the CCP Central Propaganda Department has selected individuals who exemplified the conduct of filial duties and honored them as National Moral Models (Feng, 2017). In this case, intimate behaviors such as family care were treated as the ideal outcome of filial piety and legalized by the Chinese government. In 2012, the amended draft of the Law on Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly stipulated that children living separately from their older parents should pay visits to or greet them on a frequent basis (Feng, 2017).

Meanwhile, faced with care problems of increasing empty-nest families, Chinese government highly encouraged adult children to reside in close proximity to or live together with their older parents, fulfilling their filial support obligations and taking on care responsibilities, which is figuratively called “the distance of a bowl of soup.” This point of view was particularly introduced in the Opinions on Strengthening Work on Old-age Support in the New Era issued by the State Council in 2021. Besides, in the Guidelines on Promoting the Construction of Older-friendly Living Environments promulgated in 2016 by the Office of National Ageing Issues Committee, government also suggested developing the senior apartments, inter-generational living communities, and new housing with age-friendly features, meeting the essential housing needs of all age groups particularly for older adults, and providing housing support for two generations’ cohabitation. Although several policies were introduced to promote family support to empty-nest older parents, including strengthening the filial obligation and encourage cohabitation, the inter-generational contract in Chinese empty-nest family was rarely mentioned. Besides, the intimate relationship and solidarity are more like the requirements of building a harmonious society and family virtue education in policy discourse, and the how to support empty-nest families in building intimacy lack specific policy means.

As a result, in future policy implementation, greater attention should be given to the inter-generational contract and family intimacy within rural empty-nest families. Firstly, it is crucial to support mutual assistance and resource exchange within these families. Existing literature indicates that many empty-nest parents choose to migrate to their children’s families to provide care support. However, they often encounter various challenges, including lack of social support, feelings of loneliness in unfamiliar surroundings, and potential conflicts with their children (Guo et al., 2009; Li et al., 2021). Therefore, local governments should ensure that migrant older parents receive the same public services as local residents, with a particular focus on accessible medical services, and include them as a target group for community-based old-age care services. Additionally, social work services can be implemented within communities to enhance their mental wellbeing, facilitate the establishment of social networks, and promote better integration into the local community.

On the other hand, family intimacy should be valued and cultivated by social policies. Local governors should prioritize the mental health of rural empty-nest parents and facilitate stronger connections with their migrant children. Social work services can play a crucial role in facilitating interaction between empty-nest older parents and their children, encouraging them to express their emotions openly. Moreover, family-oriented policies should provide opportunities for children to offer care and support beyond just financial assistance to their empty-nest parents. For instance, the care leave policy for only child, initially piloted in select Chinese cities in 2017, which allowed children to take time off work to care for their ill parents in hospitals, could be expanded to encompass empty-nest families and implemented nationwide. Although legally stipulated, the right of employees to care for sick family members and visit their empty-nest parents needs further assurance from local governments.

However, there are instances where older parents may face challenges in obtaining sufficient family support, such as when there is limited resource exchange, strained relationships with their children, or when they have only one child. In such cases, the government should assume some responsibility in supporting older adults. For empty-nest parents who cannot rely on their children, rural China’s home-based and community-based care services require further enhancement to address their caregiving needs. Simultaneously, the care industry for older adults should be actively promoted, providing empty-nest families with additional access to care services and alleviate the burden of family support.

Limitations

This study suffered from several limitations. Firstly, constrained by space, we did not directly compare empty-nest older parents with non-empty-nest and other old-age groups. Although we made predictions regarding certain aspects of non-empty-nest families based on our findings, it remains crucial to explore the differences between empty-nest and non-empty-nest families in terms of achieving family support. Moreover, it is necessary to examine how social policies should promote family support for these two types of families separately. Secondly, the CGSS questionnaires had limitations in describing and accurately measuring key variables. While it would be better to utilize the amount of bidirectional economic transfers to measure financial support between generations, the CGSS only assessed economic transfers through the frequencies of supportive behaviors. Additionally, we have intended to describe parental investment at earlier stage with financial transfer throughout children’s childhood and adolescence, as well as specific domains such as educational investment, marriage expenses, and assistance in house purchasing. However, the CGSS survey only provided a general assessment of accumulated financial support after children’s marriage. Lastly, the CGSS questionnaires lacked important control variables such as parents’ participation in social insurance, parents’ financial status, and the characteristics of other children within the family. These lacking variables could influence the statistical results of the regression model.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Ethical Statement

ORCID iDs

Chuanqi Que

Haijing Dai

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