Impacts of filial piety on preference for kinship versus public care

Abstract Elder care can involve the elder's children, other relatives, friends, community, and services sponsored by the government. According to the compensatory view, an individual prefers to rely on only one mode of elder care (i.e., care of elders in society, not just one's parents). In contrast, the complementary view suggests that the individual desires to combine elder care from multiple sources. This view expects that someone who practices filial piety more intensively will display a higher desire for other sources of elder care as well. The present study clarifies the impact of filial piety on desire and preference for kin/friend and government support for elder care in society. Its data came from a random sample survey of Hong Kong Chinese. Results endorse the compensatory view and thus disconfirm the complementary view when filial piety showed a negative effect on desire for other sources of support. Particularly, results reveal a more negative impact of filial piety on desire for other sources of support among people aged 40 years or older. These findings sustain the proposal for promoting filial piety as a way to relieve people's reliance on government support in elder care. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.