INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONS IN URBAN CHINA - PROXIMITY, CONTACT, AND HELP TO PARENTS

Although most older Chinese parents live with an adult son or daughter , most adult offspring do not live with parents. We examine the relati ons of these noncoresident offspring with parents in terms of proximit y, frequency of contact, and exchange of help. Based on a 1993 random sample survey conducted in two major Chinese cities, we find that alth ough rates of coresidence are high, noncoresident sons and daughters l ive close to parents, have frequent contact with their parents, and pr ovide regular help to parents. Relationships with noncoresident sons a nd daughters are unaffected by whether parents coreside with another c hild. There is some evidence of closer relationships with sons than wi th daughters, but parents without a son receive as much help from all children as do parents with sons. The effects of these and other predi ctors are estimated in multivariate analyses, and results are interpre ted in terms of the persistence or change of traditional family noons.