Childlessness and Intergenerational Transfers in Later Life

After reaching a low point among the 1935–1945 birth cohort, childlessness has increased signi cantly in recent decades in most European societies. It is generally assumed that com- pared to adults who have children, childless adults are at higher risk of lacking the social and emotional support they will need when they become frail and dependent.There are, however, two reasons why this assumption may be awed. First, childless elderly people are not only on the receiving end of support; they also give to their families and to society at large. Second, childless elderly people are not a homogenous group. Childlessness should be seen as a life course process across a series of decision and bifurcation points. The social consequences of being childless in later life depend on the specific paths into childlessness, and they may also depend on the specific family and kinship constellations of each childless individual.The aim of the present chapter is to address these two points. We report the results of a new study that deals with the social consequences of childlessness in later life by looking at the support given and received, and that examines parent- hood and childlessness not as two exclusive alternatives, but as a continuum across a range of intermediate statuses.