Grandchild caregiving in Hong Kong and implications for intergenerational relationships

Abstract

This study draws on perspectives from social exchange theory and Chinese filial piety to assess the validity of these frameworks in explaining grandchildren's caregiving behaviour. Through in-depth interviews, data on caregiving experiences were collected from 40 grandchildren who had provided care for disabled or ill grandparents. Thematic analysis was employed, yielding four main themes: “childhood support and reciprocity,” “prior help and traditional filial obligation,” “reducing parents' caregiving burden,” and “interactions of reciprocity, traditional familism, reducing parents' burden and availability.” The findings reveal that grandchildren's caregiving cannot be fully explained by social exchange or filial piety alone; instead, it emerges from a combination of factors, including the individual grandchild's availability, their relationship with their grandparents, their attachment to traditional family values and living arrangements. Since prior support from grandparents is a key driver of grandchildren's caregiving, ageing-in-place policies and welfare agencies should foster intergenerational interaction and strengthen family bonds. This is particularly important in societies where childcare is often outsourced to foreign domestic helpers.