Aging Parents and the Ties That Bind: Intergenerational Relationship Quality Among Culturally Diverse Canadian Families

Abstract

Drawing from a life course perspective, this paper examines mid/later-life parent–child relationship quality among ethnically diverse families. Focus is on the role of culture, child, and parental characteristics. Data are drawn from a study of 588 parents aged 50+ of a least one child aged 19–35 who reside in Metro Vancouver, B.C. from four Canadian cultural groups: British, Chinese, Persian/Iranian, and South Asian. Using OLS regression methods, we use two dependent variable scales: positive and negative support/interaction appraisals of the relationship. The positive relationship quality scale is associated with South Asian versus British-Canadian parents, mothers, those with greater income satisfaction, and daughters. The negative scale is inversely associated among South Asian versus British-Canadian parents, income satisfaction, parental health, and being unpartnered (vs. partnered). Interaction effects are found between gender and ethnicity. Implications for theorizing and applied recommendations for those who work with culturally diverse aging families are discussed.