The impact of migration on intergenerational solidarity types

This paper aims to expand knowledge on the effects of an international migration on parent–adult child relationships. We develop a typology, include non-migrants in the country of origin for comparison, and consider transnational families. Analyses are based on the Turkish 2000 Families Study, using information of adult non-co-resident children about their relationships with their parents. The research questions are: Do intergenerational solidarity types in migrant families reflect the patterns prevalent in the origin context or migration-specific adjustments? Do solidarity types of migrants differ, depending on whether they are transnational, of first- or second-generation children? Are differences due to composition effects? Latent class analysis shows four solidarity types. Their prevalence differs remarkably across the migrant groups. The proportion of the full-solidarity type is larger and that of the autonomous type is smaller in the relationships of first- and second-generation children with their migrant parents than among stayer dyads in Turkey. In transnational relationships, there is less full solidarity, and autonomous relationships are more likely. All migrant groups display less advice-oriented and more material-oriented support relationships. These results indicate stronger intergenerational cohesion in non-transnational migrant families and few changes across migrant generations. The observed differences are not due to composition effects.