Obligation to Care for Children and Older Parents

: A Comparative Analysis of Japan, France and Sweden

Abstract

In the rapidly changing society with the transformation of families and women’s participation in the labour force, the care of family members, traditionally assumed by women, has become a crucial concern in many industrialized countries. This article aims to elucidate the differences in filial obligation to care for children and older parents by investigating the case in three countries : Japan, France and Sweden. The study highlights two aspects, legal obligation and social norms in the three countries. The finding is that parental and filial ‘obligation’ to care for children and older parents is not universal ; it varies across time and countries. In all three countries, parents seem to be obligated to care for their own children. The obligation to care for older parents, however, differs between the three countries, and a gap can be found between legal obligation and social norms. In France and in Sweden, where families tend to outsource the provision of physical care, some studies show that it does not weaken emotional supports from child to older parents. This can imply that the outsourcing of the provision of physical care from families does not necessarily weaken the family bond in some countries.