The evolvement of family intergenerational relationship in transition: mechanism, logic, and tension

Abstract

Based on diversified intergenerational living arrangements in urban China, this paper studies the characterization and formation mechanism of intergenerational family relationships in the Chinese society. The results show that the subject of an intergenerational relationship seeks individual freedom, while simultaneously being subjected to the everyday life logic of family responsibilities, including filial piety, and the limitation of social support with regard to elderly care and child rearing. The intergenerational family relationship thus becomes the last bastion of the individual to resist risks. Most people involved in intergenerational relationships try to balance the tensions between social structure and the individual by selecting different forms of intergenerational living arrangements, which form unique evolving family intergenerational relations.