ABSTRACT
The twentieth century was one of dramatic individual and population ageing in most developed countries. The slow but certain decline in the co-residency between older parents and adult children has raised additional concerns about intergenerational familial transfers. The Global Ageing Survey (GLAS) questionnaire has modules relating to socio-demographic variables. The relationship between marital status and transfers is significant in only a limited number of economies. While there are limitations to cross-sectional studies of transfers as they do not necessarily capture a continuity of transfer. There is no gender significance in receipt of either financial or practical transfers. The support, both financial and practical, of older people is likely to become an area of increasing political importance as populations across the globe age and as individuals themselves experience increasing longevity. It is clearly necessary in the emerging economies in particular that the presence of intergenerational financial transfers should not be seen as a reason not to develop and introduce such production.
