ABSTRACT
Parent–child relationships span the entire life course. Rather than ceasing when children are launched from the family, these relationships endure, characterized by complex patterns of interaction, support, and assistance that wax and wane around key transitions and major events in the adult years. Indeed, family issues, such as intergenerational conflict, mutual assistance, and inheritance, have a timeless feel to them. The demographic revolution in the twentieth century changed family structure in substantial ways. Increased life expectancy and decreased family size resulted in an aging of the population and of the family. Having an older relative in the family had once been a relatively rare occurrence; it is usual and expected. The parent–child tie in adulthood involves multiple ties and is not solely a dyadic phenomenon. Given changes in longevity, multi-generational families have become increasingly the norm. As such, many individuals spend decades of adulthood in which they are simultaneously a grown child and a parent.
