BACKGROUND: Intergenerational transfer patterns in sub-Saharan Africa are poorly understood, despite the alleged importance of support networks to ameliorate the complex implications of the HIV/AIDS epidemic for families. OBJECTIVE: There is a considerable need for research on intergenerational support networks and transfers to better understand the mechanisms through which extended families cope with the HIV/AIDS epidemic and potentially alleviate some of its consequences in sub-Saharan Africa, and to comprehend how transfers respond-or not-to perceptions about own and other family members' health. METHODS: Using the 2008 round of the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH), we estimate the age patterns and the multiple directions of financial and non-financial transfer flows in rural Malawi-from prime-aged respondents to their elderly parents and adult children age 15 and up. We also estimate the social, demographic and economic correlates of financial and non-financial transfers of financial intergenerational transfers in this context. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are that: (1) intergenerational financial and non-financial transfers are widespread and a key characteristic of family relationships in rural Malawi; (2) downward and upward transfers are importantly constrained and determined by the availability of transfer partners (parents or adult children); (3) financial net transfers are strongly age-patterned and the middle generations are net-providers of transfers; (4) non-financial transfers are based on mutual assistance rather than reallocation of resources; and (5) intergenerational transfers are generally not related to health status, including HIV positive status.
BACKGROUND: Intergenerational transfer patterns in sub-Saharan Africa are poorly understood, despite the alleged importance of support networks to ameliorate the complex implications of the HIV/AIDS epidemic for families. OBJECTIVE: There is a considerable need for research on intergenerational support networks and transfers to better understand the mechanisms through which extended families cope with the HIV/AIDS epidemic and potentially alleviate some of its consequences in sub-Saharan Africa, and to comprehend how transfers respond-or not-to perceptions about own and other family members' health. METHODS: Using the 2008 round of the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH), we estimate the age patterns and the multiple directions of financial and non-financial transfer flows in rural Malawi-from prime-aged respondents to their elderly parents and adult children age 15 and up. We also estimate the social, demographic and economic correlates of financial and non-financial transfers of financial intergenerational transfers in this context. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are that: (1) intergenerational financial and non-financial transfers are widespread and a key characteristic of family relationships in rural Malawi; (2) downward and upward transfers are importantly constrained and determined by the availability of transfer partners (parents or adult children); (3) financial net transfers are strongly age-patterned and the middle generations are net-providers of transfers; (4) non-financial transfers are based on mutual assistance rather than reallocation of resources; and (5) intergenerational transfers are generally not related to health status, including HIV positive status.
Authors: Debbie Bradshaw; Pam Groenewald; Ria Laubscher; Nadine Nannan; Beatrice Nojilana; Rosana Norman; Desiréé Pieterse; Michelle Schneider; David E Bourne; Ian M Timaeus; Rob Dorrington; Leigh Johnson Journal: S Afr Med J Date: 2003-09
Authors: F Obare; P Fleming; P Anglewicz; R Thornton; F Martinson; A Kapatuka; M Poulin; S Watkins; H-P Kohler Journal: Sex Transm Infect Date: 2008-10-16 Impact factor: 3.519
Authors: Hans-Peter Kohler; Susan C Watkins; Jere R Behrman; Philip Anglewicz; Iliana V Kohler; Rebecca L Thornton; James Mkandawire; Hastings Honde; Augustine Hawara; Ben Chilima; Chiwoza Bandawe; Victor Mwapasa; Peter Fleming; Linda Kalilani-Phiri Journal: Int J Epidemiol Date: 2014-03-16 Impact factor: 7.196