Intergenerational Money and Time Transfers in Turkish Families

• In Event: 054 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 08. Families and Time Use

Abstract

The concept of family represents as the keystone of the society. The changes, which occurs in the family structure induces changes in the society as well. Thus, it is necessary to examine the family structure and its changing balances to understand the society.
In the everyday life, people express their doubts about the intergenerational solidarity. The reality of population ageing incarnates the concerns about time and money transfers within the family. The ongoing discussions about how the Turkish family structure has changed through time make this area worth investigating.
At this point, we ask and plan to find answers in this research following questions: “What is the current situation of Turkish families about the intergenerational solidarity?, “In which situations and with which motives children support their families and vice versa?” and “Does state’s policy has an effect over these relations?” These secondary questions will help us to understand and answer our primary question: What is the general trend in Turkey about intergenerational transfers?
We aim to find answers to these questions by conducting a mix-method research. On the one hand we make use of data sets of TURKSTAT and OECD such as time-use survey data, Tukish Family Survey (2011), social expenditure database; and on the other hand we conduct interviews with different Turkish families. Since intergenerational time and money transfers in Turkish Families is an untouched area, this research is both exploratory and explanatory. Hence, with this project the unexplored features of intergenerational transfers in Turkish families will be enlightened.

Authors

• Gülçin Akturan

• Mehmet Fatih Aysan, Istanbul Sehir University