Intergenerational Support in a Context of High Geographic Mobility: A Case Study on Vietnam

Magali Barbieri, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

Using Vietnam as an example, the study presented here aims at investigating how the transition from a socialist- to a market-based economic system influences change in intergenerational support. The paper more specifically explores the consequences of increasing geographic mobility on intergenerational support as measured both by co-residence and by remittances in Vietnam. Drawing on data from nationally representative samples (the 3% micro-sample of the 1999 Population Census and the 1997-98 Vietnam Living Standard Surveys), the study finds that (1) co-residence between adult children and their elderly parents remains the norm in Vietnam; (2) the acceleration of migration induces increasing geographic distance between generations; (3) the few elderly who move are more likely to co-reside with children than others; and (4) remittances from adult children to their aging parents are increasingly regarded as an alternative form of filial support.