Gendered patterns of intergenerational contact in Korea: Transitions from young-old to middle-old

Objective: To identify changes over time in gendered patterns of intergenerational contact between older adults and their adult children in an Asian context.

Background: Patterns of contact between older adults and their adult children have strong implications for older adults' health in societies with strong family values and gendered expectations for old age care.

Methods: The authors utilized data from two waves of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (2006 and 2016); 1,311 Korean older adults reported their frequency of contact (in-person contact and mediated communication) with their 5,663 mixed-gender adult children when they were aged 65–74 years and when they were aged 75–84 years, respectively. Latent transition analysis was applied to identify gendered patterns of contact among multiple children and examine transitions between waves.

Results: More frequent contact with sons was twice as common as more frequent contact with daughters in 2006. However, these gender-unequal patterns of contact were likely to transition to gender-equal patterns in 2016. The onset of functional limitations was associated with transitions into equally frequent in-person contact with sons and daughters, whereas the onset of clinically significant depressive symptoms was associated with transitions into more frequent mediated communication with daughters.

Conclusion: The findings show a decline in traditional son-preferential patterns of contact, in favor of gender-equal contact among Korean older adults. Furthermore, mental health issues emerging in the transition from young-old to middle-old emphasize the role of daughters as kin-keepers who support their parents emotionally.