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Social support of older people in Australia and Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 1999

HAL KENDIG
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney
WATARU KOYANO
Affiliation:
School of Nursing and Social Services, Health Sciences, University of Hokkaido
TATSUTO ASAKAWA
Affiliation:
School of Health Sciences, Tokai University
TAKATOSHI ANDO
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology

Abstract

Comparable networks surveys identified the informal relationships which provide social support to older people in urban Japan, provincial Japan, and urban Australia. Spouses, daughters, and sons were major providers of expressive support in all areas. Older Australians had more expressive support from friends while older Japanese had more instrumental support from daughters-in-law. The gender of the older people and their close ties were highly significant in all areas. The many similarities in the social support patterns contrast sharply with East and West differences in cultural prescripts and living arrangements. In these two advanced countries with long life expectancies and high living standards, older people's interpersonal relationships may be converging on the basis of selective affection and choice, rather than obligation, with individuals in and beyond the household and family.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press

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