Introduction

As populations age, the structure of families and associated roles are altered in ways that can affect our view of the lifecourse. This change can be clearly seen in family relations. Families can comprise up to seven generations as some people can live as long as a hundred years or more. As a consequence of decreasing fertility, families tend to have more members who are older and fewer who are younger. The pyramid-shaped family structure is growing ever more vertical, like a beanpole. As a consequence, the linkages between the lives of family members become more complex. For example, people in middle age may now have adult children starting a family, parents needing help, while they themselves may be starting or ending a partner relationship. Greater diversity of family arrangements, within and between generations, exacerbates the increasing complexity of family structures (Cherlin, 2010). These changes call for renegotiation and redefinition of intergenerational relations. People are confronted with changing needs for, and availability of, intergenerational support where traditional arrangements may not provide guidance, like when stepparents become frail. Structural changes also open up more possibilities for material and immaterial intergenerational support, because it can skip a generation.

This chapter examines key challenges to the intergenerational contract posed by recent changes in the lifecourse. It considers the intergenerational contract as a loosely defined, yet powerful obligation to mutual support between generations. This contract exists both at the micro level of families and at the macro level of populations and states. Both levels presuppose and influence each other (Walker, 2002). The obligations between generations, and the actual support emanating from them, differ across families, social and cultural groups, and social contexts (Bengtson and Achenbaum, 1993). In general, the youngest and oldest generations, typically being the most in need of support, should be able to count on the support of their parents and children, respectively. Parental responsibility and filial piety form the core of the intergenerational contract, where parental responsibility may extend well into the early adulthood of their children. However, the lengthening of life implies that more parent and child generations may co-exist, and may also change their needs and opportunities for support.