Recent literature on intergenerational relations – although giving different
explanations – suggests that the giving of money and services to children
reinforces the receiving of money and services by elderly people. To explore
the flow of support between the generations we present evidence about the
type and intensity of the help that elderly people receive from their adult
children and their families. By comparing five developed countries we examine
whether the amount of family help transferred to older people is shaped by a
‘crowding out’ process, in which more generous welfare systems displace
family solidarity. Taking co-residence into account the international comparison
does not support the crowding out hypothesis. We then show that
the giving of services by older people to their adult children increases the
probability that they receive help from them. This indirectly supports the
reverse hypothesis, namely that the relationship between the state and the
family may be described as a process of ‘crowding in’: generous welfare
systems which give resources to elderly people help to increase rather than
undermine family solidarity.