Type Identification And Influencing Factors Of Intergenerational Relationships Among Rural Families

As the social security system for the elderly in rural areas is still imperfect,rural elderly people have attracted more and more attention from the society.At present,the elderly in rural areas still rely more on families to provide support.However,urbanization and the migration of rural labor have changed current intergenerational relationships in rural families and also poses challenges for rural elderly.Studies have shown that the family intergenerational relationship will also directly affect rural elderly 's psychological well-being,which highlights the importance and necessity of this research.In addition,current academic research on family intergenerational relations lacks attention to the role of daughter-in-law,and there are few related studies on family intergenerational relations based on parental age and type of children,which creates a certain research space for this article.In order to improve the intergenerational relationship of rural families and improve the quality of care for the elderly,this article uses the questionnaire data of the “Rural Elderly Welfare Survey” carried out in Guanzhong District,Shaanxi Province in November 2017,and study the types and influencing factors of family intergenerational relationships among the rural elderly from the perspective of parental age and type of children.First,it uses nine measurement indicators of intergenerational solidarity-conflict theory to analyze the overall status of intergenerational relationships in rural families in Guanzhong area and compare the differences in family intergenerational relationships based on parental age and type of children.Secondly,the latent category analysis method is used to identify the type of family intergenerational relationship,and then use the contingency table and the chi-square test results to preliminarily judge correlation of parental age and type of children with the types of intergenerational relations.A stratified Multi-logistic random intercept model is constructed to study the impact of parental age and type of children on the intergenerational relations of rural families.Based on the research results,summarize the strategies to improve rural family intergenerational relationships and the quality of elderly care.The research results are as follow.First,the six dimensions of family intergenerational relationship between the rural elderly in Guanzhong area and their children are ideal and is identified as five distinct family intergenerational relationship types.Second,there are significant differences in the types of intergenerational relationships between different types of children and rural elderly people.Because of the existence of blood relationship between sons and daughters and their elderly parents,the type of family intergenerational relationship presents a high degree of intimacy and a low degree of conflict;when the daughter-in-law and rural elderly live close together,it is difficult to form an intimate relationship and the degree of conflict is high.They have frequent exchanges,but when they live far away,it is easy to alienate the relationship.Third,the intergenerational relationship of the younger and older people with their children is more ideal.Among them,the younger elderly are more likely to form a closer relationship with their children,while the older people are more intimate with the children living nearby.While it is difficult for the middle-older elderly to form a close and mutually beneficial relationship with their children,but it is easy to establish exchange relationships with neighboring children.Fourth,on the one hand,elderly of different ages can maintain close relationships with their children,especially their sons.The relationship with their daughter-in-law is not as good as that of their biological children,but it is easier to achieve close interaction with their daughter-in-law.On the other hand,the relationship between younger elderly and different children is more ideal;middle-aged elderly and their daughter-in-law have more obvious conflicts;older elderly and their daughter-in-law have a closer relationship.Based on this,this article proposes the following advices to improve the intergenerational relationship between rural families and care for the elderly such as focusing on the living conditions of the disadvantaged elderly in rural areas,etc.