IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i16p9903-d885569.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Wellbeing of Chinese Migrating Grandparents Supporting Adult Children: Negotiating in Home-Making Practices

Author

Listed:
  • Dan Zhu

    (Glorious Sun School of Business & Management, Donghua University, Shanghai 200051, China)

  • Haichao Xu

    (Tourism College, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China)

  • Yuan Yao

    (Glorious Sun School of Business & Management, Donghua University, Shanghai 200051, China)

Abstract

Health geography provides a relational approach to understanding elders’ wellbeing experience in relation to place. That the migrating grandparents move between their home and their adult children’s home to support their children’s life in the migrating city provides a particular pattern to supplement the place-based wellbeing literature. How they negotiate their wellbeing remains to be observed in the daily home-making practices related to their two homes. This study conducted in-depth interviews with 35 migrating grandparents and nine of their adult children and conducted extensive field notes in Shanghai from 2020 to 2022. Through thematic analysis, it finds that the migrating grandparents met a series of differences, challenges and tensions in the material, social and emotional home-making practices brought by the separation and rotation between their own and their children’s homes. It weakens their physical, social and mental wellbeing. However, they take some initiatives to overcome and relieve these tensions. Therefore, accompanied by sacrifices and negotiations, they also obtain sustained material, social and spiritual–emotional values to negotiate a suboptimal experience of wellbeing. This study contributes to the intersection of elderly wellbeing and home-making studies by revealing the complex and ongoing inter-relationships between migrating grandparents and home in the rotating lifestyle.

Suggested Citation

  • Dan Zhu & Haichao Xu & Yuan Yao, 2022. "The Wellbeing of Chinese Migrating Grandparents Supporting Adult Children: Negotiating in Home-Making Practices," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-16, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:16:p:9903-:d:885569
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/9903/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/9903/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wu, Yue-Fang & Hannam, Kevin & Xu, Hong-Gang, 2018. "Reconceptualising home in seasonal Chinese tourism mobilities," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 71-80.
    2. Lijian Wang & Liu Yang & Xiaodong Di & Xiuliang Dai, 2020. "Family Support, Multidimensional Health, and Living Satisfaction among the Elderly: A Case from Shaanxi Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-18, November.
    3. Susanne Nordbakke & Tim Schwanen, 2014. "Well-being and Mobility: A Theoretical Framework and Literature Review Focusing on Older People," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 104-129, February.
    4. Margherita Rampioni & Adrian Alexandru Moșoi & Lorena Rossi & Sorin-Aurel Moraru & Dan Rosenberg & Vera Stara, 2021. "A Qualitative Study toward Technologies for Active and Healthy Aging: A Thematic Analysis of Perspectives among Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary End Users," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Cutchin, Malcolm P., 2003. "The process of mediated aging-in-place: a theoretically and empirically based model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(6), pages 1077-1090, September.
    6. Peter Swanborn, 1996. "A common base for quality control criteria in quantitative and qualitative research," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 19-35, February.
    7. Wiles, Janine L. & Allen, Ruth E.S. & Palmer, Anthea J. & Hayman, Karen J. & Keeling, Sally & Kerse, Ngaire, 2009. "Older people and their social spaces: A study of well-being and attachment to place in Aotearoa New Zealand," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 664-671, February.
    8. Lin Pan & Cong Wang & Xiaolin Cao & Huanhuan Zhu & Li Luo, 2022. "Unmet Healthcare Needs and Their Determining Factors among Unwell Migrants: A Comparative Study in Shanghai," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-18, May.
    9. Po Ip, 2011. "Concepts of Chinese folk happiness," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 104(3), pages 459-474, December.
    10. Pei-Chun Ko & Karsten Hank, 2014. "Grandparents Caring for Grandchildren in China and Korea: Findings From CHARLS and KLoSA," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 69(4), pages 646-651.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wiles, Janine L. & Rolleston, Anna & Pillai, Avinesh & Broad, Joanna & Teh, Ruth & Gott, Merryn & Kerse, Ngaire, 2017. "Attachment to place in advanced age: A study of the LiLACS NZ cohort," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 27-37.
    2. Rishworth, Andrea & Elliott, Susan J., 2019. "Global environmental change in an aging world: The role of space, place and scale," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 227(C), pages 128-136.
    3. Zhang, Qingfang & Zhang, Hui & Xu, Honggang, 2021. "Health tourism destinations as therapeutic landscapes: Understanding the health perceptions of senior seasonal migrants," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    4. H. Shellae Versey & Serene Murad & Paul Willems & Mubarak Sanni, 2019. "Beyond Housing: Perceptions of Indirect Displacement, Displacement Risk, and Aging Precarity as Challenges to Aging in Place in Gentrifying Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-21, November.
    5. Richard Llewellyn & Jonathan Cowie & Mike Maher, 2020. "Active Road Studs as an Alternative to Lighting on Rural Roads: Driver Safety Perception," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-16, November.
    6. Lowe, Kate & Mosby, Kim, 2016. "The conceptual mismatch: A qualitative analysis of transportation costs and stressors for low-income adults," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 1-8.
    7. Lingchao Meng & Kuo-Hsun Wen & Zhijie Zeng & Richard Brewin & Xiaolei Fan & Qiong Wu, 2020. "The Impact of Street Space Perception Factors on Elderly Health in High-Density Cities in Macau—Analysis Based on Street View Images and Deep Learning Technology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-19, February.
    8. Xie, Hualin & Wang, Wei & Zhang, Xinmin, 2018. "Evolutionary game and simulation of management strategies of fallow cultivated land: A case study in Hunan province, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 86-97.
    9. Lusi Liao & Sasiwimon Warunsiri Paweenawat, 2022. "Alternative boomerang kids, intergenerational co-residence, and maternal labor supply," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 609-634, June.
    10. Wang, Fenglong & Mao, Zidan & Wang, Donggen, 2020. "Residential relocation and travel satisfaction change: An empirical study in Beijing, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 341-353.
    11. Susanna Nordin & Jodi Sturge & Maria Ayoub & Allyson Jones & Kevin McKee & Lena Dahlberg & Louise Meijering & Marie Elf, 2021. "The Role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Older Adults’ Decision-Making Related to Health, and Health and Social Care Services in Daily Life—A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-18, December.
    12. Wang, Shuhong & Li, Shengxiao (Alex) & Hu, Wanyang, 2022. "Grandparenting and subjective well-being in China: The moderating effects of residential location, gender, age, and income," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    13. Hassan Danaeefard, 2022. "Implication studies: a methodological framework," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(5), pages 3159-3188, October.
    14. Cheng, Long & Shi, Kunbo & De Vos, Jonas & Cao, Mengqiu & Witlox, Frank, 2021. "Examining the spatially heterogeneous effects of the built environment on walking among older adults," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 21-30.
    15. Susanne T. Dale Nordbakke, 2019. "Mobility, Out-of-Home Activity Participation and Needs Fulfilment in Later Life," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-16, December.
    16. Chikaraishi, Makoto & Jana, Arnab & Bardhan, Ronita & Varghese, Varun & Fujiwara, Akimasa, 2017. "A framework to analyze capability and travel in formal and informal urban settings: A case from Mumbai," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 101-110.
    17. Mars, Lidón & Arroyo, Rosa & Ruiz, Tomás, 2022. "Mobility and wellbeing during the covid-19 lockdown. Evidence from Spain," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 107-129.
    18. Olaru, Doina & Mulley, Corinne & Smith, Brett & Ma, Liang, 2017. "Policy-led selection of the most appropriate empirical model to estimate hedonic prices in the residential market," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 213-228.
    19. repec:zbw:bofitp:2020_018 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Ralph, Kelcie & Morris, Eric A. & Kwon, Jaekyeong, 2022. "Disability, access to out-of-home activities, and subjective well-being," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 209-227.
    21. Lardiés-Bosque Raúl, 2017. "Residential mobility, second homes and quality of life: Consequences of moving out from the city of Madrid," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 37(37), pages 51-62, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:16:p:9903-:d:885569. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.