Stability and change in intergenerational relations

This paper deals with stability and change in East and West German intergenerational relations since reunification The main focus of the paper is on adult children and parents who no longer live in the same household. The great majority of adult children live close by their parents, and they also speak of close intergenerational relations. Furthermore, many parents and children are (potentially) available for intergenerational assistance. Cross-section analyses indicate that parent-child relations are very stable. In contrast, the panel analyses show a higher degree of individual changes. In general, they show that more intergenerational relations are being evaluated as weaker than as closer; this applies especially to West German adult children. In contrast to West Germans East Germans not only report having had closer intergenerational relations shortly after the fall of the wall; they also speak less often about weaker and more often about closer relations over time.