Residential Proximity of Nearest Child and Older Adults' Receipts of Informal Support Transfers in Barbados

Nekehia T. Quashie, University of Utah

This study assesses the probability that an elderly person in Bridgetown, Barbados receives financial, functional and/or material support from their adult children according to the proximity of their nearest child, adjusting for demographic and socio-economic factors. Data (N=1248) come from the 2000 Pan American Health Organization Survey of Health, Well-Being and Ageing in Latin America and the Caribbean (SABE). Multivariate logistic regression analysis highlights the importance of co-residence in the receipt of informal support transfers. Although there is a lower probability of receiving support as distance to nearest child increases, several indicators of vulnerability, such as having a disability, increases support probabilities among those with nearest children living outside the neighbourhood. Results have implications for current and future cohorts of older adults in the region given the combination of declining fertility, persistent migration and an ageing of the population within a broader context of social protection systems across the region.