The value frameworks and motivations for intergenerational transfers from older Australians

Transfers of time and money from people aged 50 or more may be made upward to living parents or downward to children, or both. The role of family in such transfers has strong implications for the level of social support offered by the state. This article takes a qualitative approach to reveal the value frameworks and motivations behind these transfers, based on a subsample of 30 respondents from a larger Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) survey. Family solidarity is still a strong norm in Australian society but adherence to this norm is flexible. Most Australians expect the state to supplement interfamilial assistance.