Intergenerational Solidarity in Native and Migrant Families in Germany: Adult Children’s Perspectives in FReDA

Abstract This study updates and extends previous research on native and migrant intergenerational solidarity differences in Germany, a country with one of the highest numbers of immigrants worldwide. Using baseline data from the German Family Demography Panel Study (FReDA), conducted in 2021, we assess two dimensions of intergenerational solidarity—contact frequency and emotional closeness—in non-coresident biological adult parent–child relationships (16,379 mother–child and 16,028 father–child dyads). We distinguish natives from first- and second-generation migrants originating from five different European and non-European regions. Overall, results of ordinary least squares regressions provide no evidence supporting the “conflict hypothesis” of weaker intergenerational ties in migrant families. Rather, first-generation migrants consistently report more frequent (nonphysical) contacts with their parents than natives do. Moreover, some patterns of intergenerational solidarity observed among first-generation migrants appear to be “transmitted” to the second generation. However, whereas (first-generation) migrants from Eastern Europe or the former USSR tend to be more similar overall to German natives than other migrant groups, second-generation immigrants with origins in the former USSR stand out, as their intergenerational relationship qualities (especially with fathers) were found to be substantially lower. Future research should continue monitoring differential developments in natives’ and migrants’ intergenerational solidarities.