This article focuses on help received by a nationally-representative sample of 2,376 Mexican men age 60+ in 1994. In the month before the interview, about one-half of the men received in-kind or domestic assistance, two-fifths received financial assistance, and about one-fourth received physical assistance. This was so even as almost half the men still worked, and over half (57%) had no discernable functional limitation. Using logistic regression, the study found support for the common assumption that living arrangements are an important predictor of assistance. Other factors are important too however. In fact, many elders received help from non-coresiding relatives. Beside financial remittances, help from non-coresiding relatives included in-kind, domestic, and physical assistance. Research on Mexico suggests that we need to revisit notions of a modified extended family in which non-coresidential ties can be important. Surveys need questions about frequency of contact and geographic distance between elderly people and their kin.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlbertS. M., & CattellM. G. (1994). Old age in global perspective. New York: G. K. Hall & Co.
2.
AndrewsG. R., & HermalinA. I. (2000). Research directions in ageing in the Asia-Pacific region. In PhillipsD. R. (Ed.), Ageing in the Asia-Pacific Region (pp. 51–81). London & New York: Routledge.
3.
BarrientosA. (1997, December). The changing face of pensions in Latin America: Design and prospects of individual capitalization pension plans. Social Policy & Administration, 31(4), 336–353.
4.
BengstonV.RosenthalC., & BurtonL. (1990). Families and aging: Diversity and heterogeneity. In BinstockR. & GeorgeL. K. (Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences (3rd ed., pp. 263–287). San Diego, New York, Berkeley, Boston: Academic Press.
5.
BialikR. (1992). Family care of the elderly in Mexico. In KosbergJ. I. (Ed.), Family care of the elderly: Social and cultural changes (pp. 31–46). Newbury Park, London, New Delhi: Sage Publications.
6.
BridgesJ. C. (1980). The Mexican family. In DasM. S. & JesserC. J. (Eds.), The Family in Latin America (pp. 295–333). New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House.
7.
CONAPO y DIF (Consejo Nacional de Población y Desarrollo Integral para la Familia). (1994). Encuesta Nacional Sobre La Sociodemografia del Envejecimiento en Mexico. Resultados. Mexico: CONAPO.
de LehrContreras E. (1992). Aging and family support in Mexico. In KendigH. L.HashimotoA., & CoppardL. C. (Eds.), Family support for the elderly: The international experience (pp. 215–223). Oxford, New York, Tokyo: Oxford University Press.
10.
CooleyC. H. (1909). Social organization; A study of the larger mind. New York: Scribner's Sons.
11.
DavisK. (1948). Human society. New York: Macmillan.
12.
De VosS. (1990). Extended family living among older people in six Latin American countries. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 45(3), S87–S94.
13.
De VosS., & PalloniA. (n.d.). Living arrangements of elderly people around the world. Paper prepared for the UN Population Division.
14.
De VosS.SolísP., and de OcaMontes V. (2001). Receipt of instrumental assistance and extended family residence among elders in Mexico. Working Paper 2001–18, Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
15.
DowdJ. J. (1975). Aging as exchange: A preface to theory. Journal of Gerontology, 30(5), 584–594.
16.
EggebeenD. J. (1992, December). Family structure and intergenerational exchanges. Research on Aging, 14(4), 427–447.
17.
GoldsteinM. C.SchulerS., & RossJ. L. (1983). Social and economic forces affecting intergenerational relations in extended families in a third world country: A cautionary tale from south Asia. Journal of Gerontology, 38, 716–724.
18.
HabibJ. (1988). Aging population structure and support for the elderly. In United Nations Department of International and Social Affairs (Ed.), Economic and social implications of population aging (pp. 194–226). New York: United Nations.
19.
ChandeHam R. (1999). Promesas Fáciles de Difícil Cumplimiento. Demos, 12, 35–36.
20.
HanrattyD. M. (1997). The society and its environment. In MerrillT. L. & MiróR. (Eds.), Mexico: A country study (pp. 77–140). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
21.
HoyertD. L. (1991, June). Financial and household exchanges between generations. Reseasrch on Aging, 13(2), 205–225.
22.
BrisJani-Le H. (1993). Family care of dependent older people in the European community. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Community.
23.
KatzS.FordA. B.MoskowitzR. W.JacksonB. A., & JaffeM. W. (1963, September 21). The index of ADL: A standardized measure of biological and psychosocial function. Journal of the American Medical Association, 914–919.
24.
LawtonM. P., & BrodyE. M. (1969). Assessment of older people: Self-maintaining and instrumental activities of daily living. Gerontologist, 9, 179–186.
25.
LimaJ. C., & GoldscheiderF. (2001). To independence or an institution? The decline in family living of the non-married elderly: 1950–1990. Population and Studies Training Center, Brown University. Paper presented at the Population Association of America, Washington, D.C.
26.
LitwakE. (1960, June). Geographic mobility and extended family cohesion. American Sociological Review, 25(3), 385–394.
27.
LitwakE. (1965). Extended kin relations in an industrial democratic society. In ShanasE. and StreibG. F. (Eds.), Social structure and the family: Generational relations (pp. 290–323). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
28.
LoetherH. J., & McTavishD. G. (1974). Descriptive statistics for sociologists (pp. 197–198). Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc.
29.
MartinL. G., & KinsellaK. (1994). Research on the demography of aging in developing countries. In MartinL. G. & PrestonS. H. (Eds.), Demography of aging (pp. 356–403). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
30.
de OcaMontes V. (2001, March). Informal supports and welfare for elder adults in Mexico. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Population Association of America, Washington, D.C.
31.
NugentJ. B. (1990). Old age security and the defense of social normsJournal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 5, 243–254.
32.
NutiniH. G. (1976). Introduction: The nature and treatment of kinship in Mesoamerica. In NutiniH. G.CarrascoP., & TaggartJ. M. (Eds.), Essays on Mexican kinship (pp. 3–27). Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
33.
PalloniA.De VosS., & PelaezM. (1999). Agingin Latin America and the Caribbean. CDE Working Paper 99–02, Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin.
34.
ShanasE. (1982). National survey of the aged. Prepared for Administration on Aging. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. U.S. Government.
35.
ShanasE. (1985). National survey of the aged (United States), 1962. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research.
36.
ShanasE.TownsendP.WedderburnD.FirisH.MilhojP., & StehouwerJ. (Eds.) (1968). Old people in three industrial societies. New York: Atherton Press.
37.
SimmelG. (1902, July). The number of members as determining the sociological form of the group. American Journal of Sociology, VIII, 1–46, 158–196.
38.
SolísP. (1999, March). Living arrangements of the elderly in Mexico. Paper prepared for presentation at the 1999 PAA Meetings.
39.
StehouwerJ. (1968). The household and family relations of old people. In ShanasE.TownsendP.WedderburnD.FirisH.MilhojP., & StehouwerJ. (Eds.), Old people in three industrial societies (pp. 177–226). New York: Atherton Press.
40.
SweetJ. A. and BumpassL. L. (1996). The National Survey of Families and Households—Waves 1 and 2: Data description and documentation. Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Available: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/nsfh/home.htm), and/or http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/nsfh/
41.
United Nations (2001). World population prospects, the 2000 revision. New York: United Nations.
42.
United States Social Security Administration (1999). Social Security programs throughout the world. Pittsburgh, PA: Government Printing Office.
43.
VarleyA., & BlascoM. (1999). Reaping what you sow? Older women, housing and family dynamics in urban Mexico. In International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) (Ed.), Ageing in a gendered world: Women's issues and identities (pp. 153–178). Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: United Nations.
44.
WeilT. E.BlackJ. K.BlutsteinH. I.JohnstonK. T., & McMorrisD. S. (1982). Mexico: A country study (2nd ed.). Government Printing Office: Department of the Army.
45.
WilmothJ. M. (2000, February). Unbalanced social exchanges and living arrangement transitions among older adults. The Gerontologist, 40(1), 64–74.
46.
WorobeyJ. L., & AngelR. J. (1990). Functional capacity and living arrangements of unmarried elderly persons. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 45(3), S95–S101.
47.
ZúñigaE., & HernándezD. (1994). Importancia de los hijos en la vehez y cambios en el comportamiento reproductivo (Estudio en tres comunidades rurales de México). Estudios Demográficos y Urbanos, 9(1), 211–236.
