Abstract:
The values of filial piety have strongly influenced the care of older people in traditional Chinese societies. Changes in family structure and relationships have occurred and in recent decades, transnational migration has become a factor in how filial piety is perceived and practiced in contemporary translocal Chinese families. Through the use of in-depth interviews, this pilot study explores transnational family patterns, elder care practices, attitudes towards filial piety, and opinions of the medical systems in Taiwan and Australia among 14 Taiwanese families who have lived in Australia for over 20 years. The study finds that despite immigration, filial piety remains an important value for these families. Most participants have/had provided care to their aged parents at the site of immigration and back home, and some of these parents were immigrants who had returned to Taiwan in their old age. Participants generally felt that older people are better looked after in Taiwan than in Australia, as Taiwan has a better healthcare system, and hired caregivers are more readily available. Elders’ expectations of filial piety from their children varied among participants, but all were prepared for a weakening of filiality and ongoing changes in intergenerational relations while living in a Western country.
