Hostname: page-component-7b9c58cd5d-v2ckm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-03-15T23:43:36.665Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effects of an old-age allowance programme on intergenerational interactions in Taiwan: Heterogeneous effects by adult children’s motives for giving

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2021

CHENHONG PENG Open the ORCID record for CHENHONG PENG [Opens in a new window] ,
JULIA SHU-HUAH WANG Open the ORCID record for JULIA SHU-HUAH WANG [Opens in a new window] ,
YIWEN ZHU  and
YUE ZENG
CHENHONG PENG
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China Department of Social Work, Hong Kong Baptist University
JULIA SHU-HUAH WANG*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
YIWEN ZHU
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
YUE ZENG
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
*
Corresponding author. email: jshwang@hku.hk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study examines the effects of an old-age allowance programme in Taiwan, the Senior Citizens Welfare Living Allowance (SCWLA), on intergenerational financial transfers, living arrangements and contact, as well as the heterogeneity of its effects by adult children’s five types of motives for giving: altruism, exchange, reciprocity, affection, and sense of responsibility. Using 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006 data from the Panel Study of Family Dynamics, we employed a difference-in-difference individual fixed effect model to compare the outcomes across the treatment (aged 65 and older) and comparison groups (aged 55 to 64) before and after the introduction of SCWLA. Our results indicate that SCWLA crowds in intergenerational contact but does not significantly change financial transfers and co-residence patterns. The increase in intergenerational contact is primarily driven by adult children having lower motives for giving. This suggests that old-age allowances may reduce financial entanglement between adult children and older parents and change the social norm by raising “low motivators’” awareness, respect and concern for elderly. Providing public transfer to the elderly should not be hampered by the fear of distorting family support functions.

Keywords

Old-age allowanceIntergenerational interactionsMotives for giving
Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 52 , Issue 1 , January 2023 , pp. 129 - 156
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Antonucci, T. C. and Jackson, J. S. (1990). The role of reciprocity in social support. In Sarason, B. R., Sarason, I. G. and Pierce, G. R. (Eds.), Social support: an interactional view (pp.173–198). New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Barro, R. J. (1974). Are government bonds net wealth? Journal of Political Economy, 82(6), 1095–1117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, G. S. (1974). A theory of social interactions. Journal of Political Economy, 82(6), 1063–1093.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bengtson, V.L. and Schrader, S. S. (1982). Parents-child relations. In Mangen, D. J. and Peterson, W.A. (Eds.), Research instruments in social gerontology. Vol. 2, 115–128. MN: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Bernheim, B. D., Shleifer, A. and Summers, L. H. (1986). The strategic bequest motive. Journal of Labor Economics, 4(3, Part 2), S151–S182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bucx, F., Van Wel, F., Knijn, T. and Hagendoorn, L. (2008). Intergenerational contact and the life course status of young adult children. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70(1), 144–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calvo, E., Bertranou, F. M. and Bertranou, E. (2010). Are old-age pension system reforms moving away from individual retirement accounts in Latin America?. Journal of Social Policy, 39(2), 223–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, X. (2017). Old age pension and intergenerational living arrangements: a regression discontinuity design. Review of Economics of the Household, 15(2), 455–476.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, Y. and Tan, Y. J. (2018). The effect of non-contributory pensions on labour supply and private income transfers: evidence from Singapore. IZA Journal of Labor Policy, 7(1), 6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, L., Liu, H., Zhang, Y. and Zhao, Z. (2018). The heterogeneous impact of pension income on elderly living arrangements: evidence from China’s new rural pension scheme. Journal of Population Economics, 31(1), 155–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Choi, Y. J. and Kim, J. W. (2010). Contrasting approaches to old-age income protection in Korea and Taiwan. Ageing & Society, 30(7), 1135–1152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chow, N. (2009). Filial piety in Asian Chinese communities. In Kim, B. J. (Ed.), Respect for the elderly: Implications for human service providers (pp. 319–323). University Press of America.Google Scholar
Chu, C. C., Xie, Y. and Yu, R. R. (2011). Coresidence with elderly parents: A comparative study of southeast China and Taiwan. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73(1), 120–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chuang, J. C. C. (2012). Do social allowance transfers crowd out private transfers? An analysis of responses among elderly households in Taiwan. International Journal of Social Welfare, 21(2), 194–202.Google Scholar
Cox, D. (1987). Motives for private income transfers. Journal of Political Economy, 95(3), 508–546.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (2014). The situation of old-age allowance in Taiwan (in Chinese). https://www.dgbas.gov.tw/fp.asp?xItem=14294&ctNode=2389 Google Scholar
Doty, P. (1986). Family care of the elderly: The role of public policy. The Milbank Quarterly, 34-75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edmonds, E. V., Mammen, K. and Miller, D. L. (2005). Rearranging the family? Income support and elderly living arrangements in a low-income country. Journal of Human Resources, 40(1), 186–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engelhardt, G. V., Gruber, J. and Perry, C. D. (2005). Social security and elderly living arrangements evidence from the social security notch. Journal of Human Resources, 40(2), 354–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fan, E. (2010). Who benefits from public old age pensions? Evidence from a targeted program. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 58(2), 297–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garcia, S. and Cuartas, J. (2020). Can poverty alleviation programs crowd-in private support? Short -and middle-run effects of a conditional cash transfer program on inter-household transfers. Journal of Social Policy, 1-22.Google Scholar
Gerardi, K. and Tsai, Y. (2014). The effect of social entitlement programmes on private transfers: New evidence of crowding out. Economica, 81(324), 721–746.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamoudi, A. and Thomas, D. (2014). Endogenous coresidence and program incidence: South Africa’s old age pension. Journal of Development Economics, 109, 30–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holzmann, R. and Hinz, R. (2005). Old-age income support in the 21st century: An international perspective on pension systems and reform. The World Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, R. T. (2004). Do private transfers ‘displace’ the benefits of public transfers? Evidence from South Africa. Journal of Public Economics, 88(1-2), 89–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johar, M. and Maruyama, S. (2011). Intergenerational cohabitation in modern Indonesia: filial support and dependence. Health Economics, 20(S1), 87–104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Juarez, L. (2009). Crowding out of private support to the elderly: Evidence from a demogrant in Mexico. Journal of Public Economics, 93(3-4), 454–463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jung, H., Pirog, M. and Lee, S. K. (2016). Do public pensions crowd out private transfers to the elderly? evidence from South Korea. Journal of Pension Economics & Finance, 15(4), 455–477.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, J. W. and Choi, Y. J. (2011). Does family still matter? Public and private transfers in emerging welfare state systems in a comparative perspective. International Journal of Social Welfare, 20(4), 353–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohli, M. and Künemund, H. (2003). Intergenerational transfers in the family: What motivates giving. In Bengtson, V. and Lowenstein, A. (Eds.), Global Aging and Challenges to Families (pp. 123–142). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Künemund, H. and Rein, M. (1999). There is more to receiving than needing: theoretical arguments and empirical explorations of crowding in and crowding out. Ageing & Society, 19(1), 93–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lai, M. S. and Orsuwan, M. (2009). Examining the impact of Taiwan’s cash allowance program on private households. World Development, 37(7), 1250–1260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, J. and Lee, Y. (2009). Old-age income security and private transfers in South Korea. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 21(4), 393–407.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lin, J. P. and Yi, C. C. (2011). Filial norms and intergenerational support to aging parents in China and Taiwan. International Journal of Social Welfare, 20, S109–S120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Health and Welfare (2013). Report of the senior citizen condition survey. Retrieved from: https://dep.mohw.gov.tw/dos/lp-1767-113.html.Google Scholar
Ning, M., Liu, W., Gong, J. and Liu, X. (2019). Does the New Rural Pension Scheme crowd out private transfers from children to parents? Empirical evidence from China. China Agricultural Economic Review, 11(2), 411–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwarz, M. E. (2006). Intergenerational transfers: An integrative approach. Journal of Public Economic Theory, 8(1), 61–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaver, S. (1998). Universality or selectivity in income support to older people? A comparative assessment of the issues. Journal of Social Policy, 27(2), 231–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silverstein, M., Conroy, S. J. and Gans, D. (2012). Beyond solidarity, reciprocity and altruism: moral capital as a unifying concept in intergenerational support for older people. Ageing & Society, 32(7), 1246–1262.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sun, S. H.-L. (2008). Not Just a Business Transaction’ The logic and limits of grandparental childcare assistance in Taiwan. Childhood, 15(2), 203–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xie, Y. (2013). Population heterogeneity and causal inference. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(16), 6262–6268.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yang, K. S., Yeh, K.H. and Hwang, L. L. (1989). A social attitudinal analysis of Chinese filial piety: Conceptualization and assessment. Bulletin of the Institute of Ethnology, 65, 171–22.Google Scholar
Zhang, Z., Luo, Y. and Robinson, D. (2019). Who Are the Beneficiaries of China’s New Rural Pension Scheme? Sons, Daughters, or Parents? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(17), 3159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Peng et al. supplementary material

Peng et al. supplementary material

Download Peng et al. supplementary material(File)
File