Author(s)

ZhengJia Lu^*, YuChen Zhou, WanRong Liu

Affiliation(s)

China Women'sUniversity, Beijing 100101, China.

Corresponding Author

ZhengJia Lu

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on an integrated service center for the elderly and the young in City B. It explores in-depth its transition from a single elderly care institution to an intergenerational co-care platform, with a special focus on the pivotal role played by middle-aged women in the process. The study adopts a diachronic institutional analysis perspective, and through combing policy texts, reading key literature, and conducting in-depth interviews, reveals how middle-aged women have successfully transferred their family caregiving experience to community service scenarios, realizing the role transition from "private caregiver" to "public coordinator". The study reveals how middle-aged women successfully transfer their family caregiving experiences to community service scenarios, realizing the transition from "private caregiver" to "public coordinator". The study found that middle-aged women, with their unique ability to transform resources, made significant contributions to intergenerational interactions, resource integration and emotional support, and contributed to the improvement of the quality and efficiency of community services. Despite the geographical limitations of the study, the results provide innovative solutions to the challenges of population aging and childlessness, and highlight the need to further optimize the model of co-parenting between the elderly and the young through policy support and institutional innovation. Future research should expand the scope and delve deeper into the psychological state and career development needs of middle-aged women in order to refine the understanding of the model and promote its wider application.

KEYWORDS

One old and one young; Middle-aged women; Co-parenting; Intergenerational co-parenting

CITE THIS PAPER

ZhengJia Lu, YuChen Zhou, WanRong Liu. The role and contribution of middle-aged women in the model of shared care for the elderly and children--a case study of an integrated service center for the elderly and children in city B. World Journal of Sociology and Law. 2025, 3(1): 35-39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61784/wjsl3020.

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