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Money and time: what would you give back to me? Reciprocity between children and their elderly parents in Europe

Author

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  • Fernanda Mazzotta

    (CELPE, University of Salerno)

  • Lavinia Parisi

    (CELPE, University of Salerno)

Abstract

Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) (2004, 2006, 2011, 2013 and 2015), we analyse the determinants of adult children’s transfers of money and time to their parents. Specifically, we focus on reciprocity: analysing resource transfers, in term of both time (i.e., informal care) and money (i.e., financial transfers), helps us understand how parent-to-child transfers may influence the probability of child-to-parent transfers. A multivariate probit model for 10 EU countries is used to simultaneously estimate the probabilities that informal care or financial transfers will be given by children to their parents and, conversely, by parents to their children. Using the longitudinal structure of the data, we consider both concurrent and intertemporal reciprocity. The evidence for reciprocity is different based on the type of transfer: we do not find evidence of reciprocity for time transfers (informal care provided to parents) except in the case of sons, for which a positive link between informal care given to parents and current financial transfers received from parents emerges. In contrast, we find a positive effect of parent-to-child transfers (both time and money) on the probability of child-to-parent financial transfers.

Suggested Citation

  • Fernanda Mazzotta & Lavinia Parisi, 2020. "Money and time: what would you give back to me? Reciprocity between children and their elderly parents in Europe," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 37(3), pages 941-969, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:epolit:v:37:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s40888-020-00181-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s40888-020-00181-w
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Informal care; Time transfers; Money Transfers; Reciprocity; Responsibility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination

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