Intergenerational relationships among Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Americans

Previous studies that have focused on Asian American intergenerational relationships used the cultural concept of filial obligation to explain an adult child's commitment to his/her elderly parents. Using data gathered from 628 Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Americans and their elderly parents, this study found that such financial and structural factors as an adult child's income and his/her parent's need for assistance significantly influenced the frequency of an adult child's support for his/her parents. The effects of filial obligation on an adult child's provision of support for his/her parents change depending on several of these financial and structural factors. The magnitude of these relationships varies, however, among three groups of Asian Americans. It is therefore necessary to examine interaction effects of cultural, financial, and structural factors on Asian American intergenerational relationships as well as the diversity of these relationships within the Asian American population.