Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-5nwft Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-01T07:50:53.443Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Intergenerational Transfers, Social Solidarity, and Social Policy: Unanswered Questions and Policy Challenges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2023

Susan A. McDaniel
Susan A. McDaniel*
Affiliation:
University of Alberta
*
Requests for reprints should be sent to:/Les demandes de reproduction doivent être adressées à: Susan A. McDaniel, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H4
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Intergenerational transfers are the essence of societal continuity, and yet not at all well conceptualized or analysed. Intergenerational transfers are also at the core of the welfare state concept of redistribution of resources and hence, of current social policy changes/challenges. In making a difference to policy choices and in linking research to policy, attention to intergenerational transfers focusses on the fundamental policy questions of guiding belief systems, family (or private) transfers versus public transfers among generations, and issues of intergenerational and cohort equity in the short and longer terms. This paper has four objectives: (1) Situating intergenerational transfers in socio-historical, international comparative, and current social policy contexts; (2) Developing a typology of intergenerational transfers that could provide the basis for answering thus far unanswerable key policy questions, such as whether the situations of seniors into future generations will be like those of seniors today; (3) Encouraging the collection of more complete and integrated data on intergenerational transfers in Canada, which would provide for more informed policy choices; and (4) Enumerating key policy questions that emerge from research and remain to be addressed. From analysis of what is known about intergenerational transfers and what remains to be known, an agenda for an information system, for future research and for addressing policy questions is outlined.

Résumé

Résumé

Le transfert intergénérationnel constitue l'essence de la continuité sociétale et pourtant, il demeure mal conceptualise et analysé. II se situe également au centre du concept de l'état sur le bien-être quant à la redistribution des ressources et partant, des changements/défis actuels quant aux mesures sociales. Tout en ayant un effet sur le choix des politiques et en créant un lien entre celles-ci et la recherche, l'attention portée sur le transfert intergénérationnel se concentre sur les questions fondamentales des systèmes de croyance, sur les transferts familiaux (ou privés) opposés aux transferts publics entre les générations et sur la question de l'équite intergénérationnelle et entre les cohortes, à court et à long termes. Cet article comporte quatre objectifs: (1) Situer les transferts intergénérationnels dans leurs contextes socio-historiques, internationaux et en fonction des politiques sociales actuelles. (2) Établir une typologie des transferts intergénérationnels qui pourrait constituer une base de réponses aux questions clés demeurées irrésolues jusqu'a maintenant, â savoir par exemple si la situation des aînés des generations à venir sera semblable à celle d'aujourd'hui. (3) Favoriser la collecte de données complètes et intégrées sur les transferts intergénérationnels au Canada, ce qui permettrait des choix plus avisés en matière de politiques. (4) Faire ressortir les questions de politiques qui n'auront pas été résolues par la recherche. À partir de l'analyse des facteurs de transferts intergénérationnels connus et de ceux qui restent à découvrir, on a établi un agenda de système d'information et de recherche éventuelle sur les questions de politiques.

Keywords

IntergenerationalPolicySolidarityIntergénérationnelpolitiquessolidarité
Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 16 , Issue S1: Bridging Policy and Research on Aging/Tisser des liens entre les politiques et la recherche relative au vieillissement , Spring Printemps 1997 , pp. 1 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1997

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.)

Footnotes

*

Revised version of a paper invited for the plenary session, Intergenerational Transfers and Social Tensions, National Conference of the Institute of Public Administration Canada (IPAC), 25-28 August 1996, Victoria, B.C. The invitation from the organizers of the 1996 IPAC National Conference is appreciated. Thanks go as well to Kerri Calvert, Kelly Higgins, Sheryl McInnes, Douglas Wahlsten, and to colleagues on an ad hoc Statistics Canada advisory group (Arthur Kroeger, Noah Meltz, and Ian McKinnon). Any errors or omissions, of course, remain the author's responsibility.

References

Bacon, F. (1963) (reprinted from 1585 original). Of parents and children. Gateway to the Great Books. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica. Volume 7: 5.Google Scholar
Baker, M. (1995). Canadian Family Policies: Cross-National Comparisons. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banting, K.G., Beach, C.M., & Betcherman, G. (1995). Polarization and social policy reform: Evidence and issues. In Banting, K.G. & Beach, C.M. (Eds.), Labour Market Polarization and Social Policy Reform (pp. 1-22). Kingston, ON: School of Policy Studies, Queen's University.Google Scholar
Bengtson, V.L., & Harootyan, R.A. (1994). Intergenerational Linkages: Hidden Connections in American Society. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Bengtson, V.L., & Murray, T. (1993). Justice across generations (and cohorts): sociological perspectives on the life course and reciprocities over time. In L. Cohen (Ed.), Justice Across Generations: What Does it Mean? (pp. 111-138). Washington, DC: American Association of Retired Persons.Google Scholar
Caldwell, J.C. (1978). A theory of fertility: from high plateau to destabilization. Population and Development Review, 4, 553-577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldwell, J.C. (1982). Theory of Fertility Decline. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Canada Pension Plan Consultations. (1996). Report on the Canada Pension Plan Consultations. Ottawa: Federal/Provincial/Territorial CPP Consultations Secretariat.Google Scholar
Clinget, R. (1995). Efficiency, reciprocity and ascriptive equality: The three major strategies governing selection of heirs in America. Social Science Quarterly, 76(2), 274-293.Google Scholar
Coder, J., Rainwater, L., & Smeeding, T. (1989). Inequality among children and the elderly in ten modern nations: The United States in international context. American Economic Review, 79(2), 320-324.Google Scholar
Cook, F.L., Marshall, V.W., Marshall, J.G., & Kaufman, J. (1994). The salience of intergenerational equity in the United States and Canada. In Marmor, T.R., Smeeding, T.M. & Greene, V.L. (Eds.), Economic Security and Intergenerational Justice: A Look at North America. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.Google Scholar
Corak, M., & Heisz, A. (1996). The intergenerational income mobility of Canadian men. No. 89, Research Paper Series, Analytical Studies Branch, Statistics Canada, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Cremer, H., Kessler, D., & Pestieau, P. (1992). Intergenerational transfers within the family. European Economic Review, 36, 1-16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cremer, H., Kessler, D., & Pestieau, P. (1994). Public and private intergenerational transfers: Evidence and a simple model. In J. Ermisch & N. Ogawa (Eds.), The Family, the Market and the State in Ageing Societies (pp. 216-231). Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Ekos Research Associates. (1994). Rethinking Government '94: An Overview and Synthesis. Toronto: Ekos.Google Scholar
Elder, G.H. (1994). Time, human agency, and social change: Perspectives on the life course. Social Psychology Quarterly, 57, 4-15.Google Scholar
Engels, F. (1902). The Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State. Chicago: Charles Kerr.Google Scholar
Freeman, R.B. (1995). W(h)ither the welfare state in an epoch of rising inequality? In Banting, K.G. & C. Beach (Eds.), Labour Market Polarization and Social Policy Reform (pp. 243-256). Kingston, ON: School of Policy Studies, Queen's University.Google Scholar
Gaffield, C. (1992). Canadian families in cultural context: Hypotheses from the mid-nineteenth century. In B. Bradbury (Ed.), Canadian Family History: Selected Reading (pp. 135-157). Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman.Google Scholar
Gossage, P. (1991). Family formation and age at marriage in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, 1854-1891. Histoire Sociale I Social History, XXIV(47), 61-84.Google Scholar
Harevan, T.K. (1987). Historical analysis of the family. In Sussman, M.B. & Steinmetz, S.K. (Eds.), Handbook of Marriage and the Family (pp. 37-57). New York: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, M.L. (1995). Interdependency and the generational compact. Aging and Society, 15, 243-265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaplan, H. (1994). Evolutionary and wealth flows of fertility: Empirical models. Population and Development Review, 20(4), 753-791.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laferrere, A., & McEntee, P. (1995). Self-employment and intergenerational transfers of physical and human capital. Economic and Social Review, 27(1), 43-54.Google Scholar
Laslett, P., & Fishkin, J. (Eds.). (1992). Justice: Between Age Groups and Generations. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Levine, D. (1989). Recombinant family formation strategies. Journal of Historical Sociology, 2(2), 89-115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Logan, J.R., & Spitze, G.D. (1995). Self-interest and altruism in intergenerational relations. Demography, 32(3), 353-364.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maxwell, J. (1996). Social dimensions of economic growth. Eric Hanson Memorial Lecture, University of Alberta, January.Google Scholar
McDaniel, S.A. (1993). Emotional support and family contacts of older Canadians. Canadian Social Trends, Spring, (28), 30-33.Google Scholar
McDaniel, S.A. (1994). Family and Friends 1990: General Social Survey Analysis Series. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. (Cat no. 11-612E, No.9)Google Scholar
McDaniel, S.A. (1996a). Serial employment and skinny government: Reforming caring and sharing among generations. Canadian Journal on Aging, forthcoming.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDaniel, S.A. (1996b). Connecting women and aging: Older single parents looking back. Paper presented at the Canadian Population Society Meetings, St. Catherine's, Ontario, June.Google Scholar
McDaniel, S.A., & Gee, E.M. (1993). Social policies regarding caregiving to elders: Canadian contradictions. Journal of Aging and Social Policy, 5(1/2), 57-72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGarry, K., & Schoeni, R.F. (1995). Transfer behavior within family: Results from the asset and health dynamics survey. Working Paper Series 95-09, Labor and Population Program, Rand Corporation.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrissette, R., Myles, J., & Picot, G. (1995). Earnings polarization in Canada, 1969-1991. In Banting, K.G. & Beach, C.M. (Eds.), Labour Market Polarization and Social Policy Reform. Kingston, ON: School of Policy Studies, Queen's University.Google Scholar
Myles, J. (1996). Public policy in a world of market failure. Policy Options/Options Politiques, 17(6), 14-19.Google Scholar
Norris, J.E., & Tindale, J.A. (1994). Among Generations: The Cycle of Adult Relationships. Toronto: W.H. Freeman.Google Scholar
O'Neill, J. (1994). The Missing Child in Liberal Theory: Towards a Covenant Theory of Family, Community, Welfare and the Civic State. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pampel, F.C. (1994). Population aging: Class content, and age inequality. American Journal of Sociology, 100(1), 153-195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phipps, S.A. (1995). Poverty and labour market change: Canada in comparative context. In Banting, K.G. & CM. Beach (Eds.), Labour Market Polarization and Social Policy Reform. Kingston, ON: School of Policy Studies, Queen's University.Google Scholar
Picot, G., & Myles, J. (1995). Social transfers, changing family structure, and low income among children. No. 82, Research Paper Series, Analytical Studies Branch, Statistics Canada, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Rawls, J. (1971). A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schulz, J.H. (1995). The Economics of Aging (6th ed.). Westport, CT: Auburn House.Google ScholarPubMed
Statistics Canada. (1995). Socio-economic statistics for human resources development. Draft paper.Google Scholar
Taylor, A.M., & Williamson, J.G. (1994). Capital flows to the New World as an intergenerational transfer. Journal of Political Economy, 102(2), 348-371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, A. (1993). Intergenerational relations and welfare restructuring: The social construction of an intergenerational problem. In Bengtson, V.L. & W. Achenbaum (Eds.), The Changing Contract Across Generations (pp. 141-168). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Wolfson, M. (1996). Life paths: A new framework for socio-economic accounts. Paper presented at LARRY Conference, Lillehammer, Norway, August.Google Scholar
Wolfson, M., & Murphy, B.B. (1994). Kinder and gentler: A comparative analysis of incomes of the elderly in Canada and the United States. In Marmor, T.R., Smeeding, T.M. & Greene, V.L. (Eds.), Economic Security and Intergenerational Justice: A Look at North America. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.Google Scholar
World Bank. (1995). Toward Gender Equality: The Role of Public Policy. Washington, DC: The World Bank.Google Scholar
Zhang, J. (1994). Bequest as a public good within marriage. Journal of Political Economy, 102(1), 187-193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar