SOLIDARITY WITH THE ELDERLY IN ROMANIA
SOLIDARITY WITH THE ELDERLY IN ROMANIA

Summary/Abstract: European societies are confronted in the medium and long term with major demographic transformations in respect of an increase in the size of the elderly population and a decrease in the numbers of the youngest. These changes raise important sustainability problems for the public social security systems (e.g. pensions, health). In Eastern Europe, such challenges go along with the transition economies’ problems. Solidarity between generations and more specifically intergenerational family solidarity are discussed in the literature as one of the solutions in respect of the complex challenges these changes represent for public care systems for the elderly. Thus, questions of public concern, support and care for the elderly persons and of the factors that underpin these attitudes become relevant. This paper seeks to ascertain if and how a combination of socioeconomic indicators, value orientations and family structure related indicators (with a focus on the latter), might contribute to explanations concerning attitudes towards the elderly in Romania. For this purpose, an individual-level analysis of the Romanian data of the World Values Study 2012 was employed. The results provide mixed evidence in supporting the importance of family-related indicators for attitudes of solidarity toward the elderly. While there is not enough evidence supporting a relation between the structure of opportunity and family size with the solidarity attitudes, a relation with familial experiences (marital status) exists and is important.

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