Financial Transfers to Husbands' and Wives' Elderly Mothers in Mexico: Do Couples Exhibit Preferential Treatment by Lineage?

Abstract

The aim of this study was to contrast the likelihood that a husband's elderly mother receives financial assistance from a couple with that of a wife's mother. Prior U.S.-based research has documented a strong bias toward transfers to wives' parents. The authors aimed to extend this literature to Mexico, where financial help from adult children is a critical source of support for a rapidly aging population lacking institutional assistance. The authors' approach to modeling competition between mothers accounted for the nature of their need. The results demonstrate that among mothers of similar financial need, a husband's mother is twice as likely to receive financial assistance as a wife's mother. In contrast, when faced with personal care needs, a wife's mother is disproportionately favored. These results reflect gender differences in Mexican adult children's responsibility for family members' financial and physical well-being. The findings uncover new complexity in the patterns by which couples transfer money to parents of different lineage.

Keywords: aging in Mexico; couples; elderly mothers; financial transfers; intergenerational transfers; lineage.

Figure 1

Proportions of mothers receiving monetary assistance from their married children according to financial and physical needs, by lineage, Mexican Health and Aging Study, 2001.