Intergenerational transfer of money and services in France, Germany, Denmark and Italy

        With the aging of the population in Europe the question of intergenerational transfers of both time and money become a significant area of study.  This also raises the question of those who have no living adult children.  Where do they fit in with transfers and services?   Albertini, Kohli and Vogel (2007) analyze international transfers in the first wave of Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).   They restrict their sample to transfers only for the older adults who have an adult child.  The findings of the authors confirm that substantial transfers occur and ”there is a net downward flow from the older to the younger generation”.  In examining welfare regimes the finding is that in wealthier countries money is most likely to be transferred to children and in poorer countries services are more likely to be transferred to children.   Thus, there is a further need to as the question: “ What else is going on that might enhance our understanding of these transfers in different welfare regimes?”

We will use a different methodological approach as well as a deeper examination of the employment status of those women in the SHARE samples who are below retirement age.  What are the consequences of older women workers in the mix of transfer of services and money?  What happens to those without children?  This question is very important in Germany with its high level of those in this generation who are without children.  Are there within household transfers?  This question more important in Italy where many households have two adult generations.

We will use the cross-national analysis from the second wave 2006/2007 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).  The countries to be studied are Denmark, Germany, France and Italy and represent different European welfare regimes.