Family Care and Family Solidarity

The study examines the beliefs of solidarity and justice that influence the possible care of elder people by their adult children. It is assumed that the anticipation of the care of an elderly parent leads to a decision-taking situation in which different conceptions of justice are relevant, such as the status principle, the need principle, or the desert principle. The hypothesis is that depending on the justice principle, different bases of eldercare exist, different arrangements of care are chosen and different care-specific problems occur. The questioning of 15 adult children of impaired elderly brought the result that adult children can be categorized in four different types with respect to their caring behavior. The children orientate their behavior at the task of caring, the relation to the parent, the person of the parent, or the behavior of the parent. The types of orientation show how the external social conditions are picked up in familial interactions and lead to family-specific differences in the care of the elderly. The typology of generational relations allows studying questions of justice between familial generations on a neutral and non-normative basis