Family Demography and Health in Low- and Middle-income Countries: A Cyberseminar Series Exploring Family Change and Intergenerational Relationships

代际关系涉及整个生命过程中物质、工具和情感支持的交换。父母是子女的支持来源，但也可能成为支持的接受者，特别是在年龄较大时。世界各地的老年父母最常依靠其成年子女提供经济支助和照顾，成年子女增加联系，甚至在父母遭受丧亲之痛（如丧偶或健康不佳）时与父母同住。在家庭结构和居住流动性发生巨大变化的情况下，代际支持的家庭生命周期的实现程度尚不确定。全球南部贫穷地区的经济不确定性和公共安全网的相对缺乏，突出了解决这些问题的政策相关性。这一由欧洲社会研究中心资助的三个网络研讨会系列将加强家庭人口统计学对理解低收入和中等收入国家代际关系和支持的贡献。2012-2014年期间，将举办三次相互关联但独立的网络研讨会，以促进最大程度的国际参与。网络研讨会将利用一个促进南北之间知识交流的“虚拟”论坛，汇集人口学和其他相关学科的学术研究人员和学生、以家庭为中心的方案的从业人员以及在资源贫乏的环境中参与收集家庭数据的人员。研讨会一：为研究人口研究中的代际关系和支持建立统一的概念和方法研讨会2：低收入和中等收入国家的家庭动态如何影响代际支持，政策能否促进资源贫乏环境中的积极支持？研讨会三：研讨会的主要目标还涉及：㈠在国际上促进对家庭人口学当代专题的兴趣和了解; ㈡提高对亚洲、非洲、拉丁美洲和大洋洲家庭人口统计的力量、范围和机会的认识，以及iii）促进跨学科学术网络和来自不同地区的人口学家的合作。网络研讨会将由南安普顿大学主办，并得到老龄化研究中心、ESRC人口变化中心和全球大学网络（WUN）的科学和技术援助。这一ESRC网络研讨会系列的共同申请人来自参与人口研究的主要学术机构：维多利亚Hosegood（非洲卫生和人口研究中心和南安普顿），Sara Randall（伦敦大学学院），Kathryn Yount（埃默里），Sureeporn Punpuing（Mahidol），Jacques Alioune（马拉维/利物浦），Maria Evandrou，Sabu Padmadas和Jane Falkingham（南安普顿）。该小组有三个项目合作伙伴，他们将为ESRC的网络研讨会系列增加相当大的价值：南安普顿大学、国际人口科学研究联合会和INDEPTH网络。这些研讨会也得到人口理事会的支助。

Intergenerational relations involve the exchange of material, instrumental, and emotional support across the life course. Parents are sources of support to their children but can become recipients of support, especially at older age. Older parents around the world rely most often on their adult children for financial support and care, and adult children increase contact and even become co-resident when parents experience losses, such as widowhood, or illhealth. Amidst dramatic changes in family structure and residential mobility, the extent to which this family lifecycle of intergenerational support is realized is uncertain. Economic uncertainty and the relative absence of public safety nets in poor settings in the global south heighten the policy relevance of addressing these issues. This proposed ESRC-funded series of three cyberseminars will enhance the contribution of family demography to understanding intergenerational relationships and support in low- and middle-income countries. Designed to facilitate the maximum amount of international participation, three interrelated but stand-alone cyberseminars will be conducted in 2012-2014. Using a 'virtual' forum that facilitates knowledge exchange between the north and south, the cyberseminars will bring together academic researchers and students from demography and other allied disciplines, practitioners in family-centered programmes, and people involved in the collection of family data in resource-poor settings. Seminar 1: Building consolidated concepts and methods for the study of intergenerational relationships and support in demographic research Seminar 2: How are family dynamics in low- and middle-income countries affecting intergenerational support and can policies promote positive support in resource-poor settings? Seminar 3: New directions in the demographic study of intergenerational networks and the health and wellbeing of families in low- and middle-income countries Key objectives of the seminars also relate to i) promoting interest and knowledge about contemporary topics in family demography internationally; ii) creating greater awareness of the strength, scope and opportunities for family demography in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania, and iii) fostering interdisciplinary academic networking and collaboration involving demographers from different regions.The cyberseminars will be hosted by the University of Southampton with scientific and technical assistance from the Centre for Research on Ageing, the ESRC Centre for Population Change and the Worldwide University Network (WUN). The co-applicants for this ESRC cyberseminar series are drawn from major academic institutions involved in population studies: Victoria Hosegood (Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies & Southampton), Sara Randall (UCL), Kathryn Yount (Emory), Sureeporn Punpuing (Mahidol), Jacques Alioune (Malawi/Liverpool), Maria Evandrou, Sabu Padmadas, and Jane Falkingham (Southampton). This team has three project partners who will add considerable value to this ESRC cyberseminar series: The University of Southampton, the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) and the INDEPTH Network. The seminars are also supported by the Population Council.