What should adult children do for elderly parents? Opinions and preferences of three generations of women.

Three generations of women (N = 403) were surveyed to discover their opinions about appropriate filial behavior toward elderly parents and their personal preferences among various providers of services that they might need in old age. Opinions were elicited by a vignette focused on what hypothetical adult children with differing situational characteristics should do to help meet the needs of their dependent widowed mother. Preferences were obtained from subjects' rankings of six potential providers (representing formal and informal support systems) for eight types of services. In the responses to the vignette, adjustment of family schedules and help with costs of professional health care were seen as appropriate for adult children, but adjustment of work schedules and sharing of households were not. For themselves, the women preferred adult children as providers of emotional support and financial management but not of income. The middle generation was least in favor of receiving financial support or instrumental help from children, preferring formal services for such assistance.