Family Help Patterns and Social Class in Three Countries

The present paper is a report of the help patterns among older people and their adult children in three countries-Denmark, Britain, and the United States. The data come from interviews conducted in mid-1962 with nationwide probability samples of approximately 2,500 persons aged 65 and over in each of the three countries. Family help patterns in old age in Denmark, Britain, and the United States differ by the social class position of the older person. The class position of old people effects primarily the size of their immediate families, their family structure, and their living arrangements. While the social class of the old person effects the magnitude and direction of parent-child help, persons in every social class report that they help their children and that their children help them.