Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

Under a traditional inter-generational contract, Japanese adult children provided care to their parents within co-residency and, in return, inherited family wealth. In Britain, with its long-established welfare state and people's preference for independent living, the provision of such care does not necessarily go hand-in-hand with inheritance. This research examined the changing trends of exchanging care and inheritance between older parents and their adult children in the two ageing societies - Britain and Japan. Through a series of in-depth interviews, the distinct ways in which specific cultures, institutions, laws and housing markets combine to influence different 'generational contracts' were explored.

Main Topics:

Each file represents the transcript of an in-depth qualitative interview with an older individual (or occasionally a couple). Each interview took an hour and a half, on average. Main topics include: informant's personal details such as age, sex, marital status, family composition; brief housing history, meaning of the home, housing choice in later life in relation to long-term care needs; expectations and experiences of receiving general support as well as more specific support such as long-term care from both family members and the state, or other agencies; their experiences of care-giving to their parents and parents-in-law; views on and experiences of receiving formal services under long-term care insurance (Japanese informants only); perspectives on inheritance, importance of their asset accumulation, how to dispose of their assets, how to finance long-term care. A full guide to topics is included in the User Guide.

Purposive selection/case studies

Face-to-face interview