Purchasing Piety: Money and Filial Piety in Chinese Family Care for the Elderly

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The evolving dynamics of intergenerational relationships and eldercare in China today have sparked concerns about the diminishing degree of filial piety, often viewed as compromised by financial and market influences. However, the positive aspects or beneficial experiences that may emerge from this shift are frequently overlooked. This article, drawing on semi-structured interviews with 12 Chinese families, explores how spending money as an expression of filial piety significantly shapes the nature and significance of care for the elderly and of intergenerational economic exchanges. Monetary expressions take various forms, including cash, ceremonial and everyday gifts, underscoring the distinct roles and meanings of filial piety. The study aims to enrich the understanding of intimate intergenerational relationships in Chinese families through the lens of new economic sociology. It highlights the complex but interconnected relationship between money and filial piety in eldercare, wherein the culture of filial piety profoundly influences and redefines monetary roles in family care, and conversely, the practice of filial piety is inevitably influenced by monetary considerations.