The Importance of Ethnicity in the Social Support Systems of Older New Yorkers

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Abstract
The importance of ethnicity in the composition of kin networks and inter-generational exchanges was examined using a representative sample of 1570 White, African-American, and Latino New Yorkers aged 65 and older. Current findings were compared with the previous study, "The Elderly in the Inner City of New York" (Cantor, 1978). Currently, While elderly had the most inclu- sive networks, although Ule most widely dispersed. Latino elderly had narrow, family-centered networks wifh most kin living nearby, The networks of older African-Americans were intermediate to those of Latinos and Whites, being less inclusive but with many kin living nearby. Assistance between older parents and their children was moderated by ethnicity, but need, in terms of income level and funclional ability, and gender emerged as more overriding factors. The current study bore out predictions made in 1970: while elhnicity is still important, it is only one indicator of the nature of informal networks.

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