Family intergenerational support as the core component of aging has always received much academic attention. In this study, the total intergenerational support score of the study participants was 15 (12, 15), and the overall level of intergenerational support in the families of the longevity elderly was high. Consistent with the results of previous studies (18). The declining somatic functions of the long-lived elderly due to advanced age, in this study, were mainly manifested as recipients of intergenerational support. In the context of the family concept of raising children for old age, we found the longevity elderly mostly lived with married sons. Sons play a major role in intergenerational support (19). With the development of economy and society, people's cultural level and moral quality are generally improved, their awareness of feedback is further strengthened, and they generally abide by the moral code and code of conduct of filial and love for the elderly, and the gender difference in elderly care responsibilities is gradually narrowing. "gender equality" and "filial piety" concept has been deeply rooted in people's hearts. Daughters also gradually play a role in Support for parents, "raising daughters to prevent old age" is slowly accepted and recognized by people (20).
The family concept has had a profound influence on traditional Chinese society, and it is the common ideal of the people for the family to flourish and for the incense to continue. This study found that the numbers of family generations had a significant effect on the degree of intergenerational support for the longevity elderly, and the higher the numbers of family generations, the more intergenerational life care and intergenerational spiritual comfort of the longevity elderly. Analysis of the reasons may have two aspects. On the one hand, the longevity elderly has reached an advanced age, and the elderly themselves may no longer have the ability to handle financial issues, and mainly need daily care and communication from their children and grandchildren, and do not have significant needs for financial aspects, so there is no significant effect of the number of family generations on the degree of intergenerational financial support. On the other hand, family care for the elderly in China is still the mainstream method, the elderly rely mainly on their children, but "raising sons to protect the elderly" is still a common concept. Longevity elderly people live with their married sons, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren are born one after another, with time, the number of adult children and grandchildren in the family has increased, and the elderly are more likely to receive daily care and spiritual comfort. The high rate and proportion of population aging in China, the exponential increase in frailty and disability of the elderly, especially the longevity elderly (21), has inevitably increased the demand for care. A larger number of family generations produces a larger number of children and grandchildren, compensating for the decrease in family resources for elderly care brought about by the gradual miniaturization of family size and fewer children in China, easing the burden of children supporting the elderly, reducing the multiple pressure of caregivers for the longevity elderly alone, and increasing the accessibility of care.
The economic living standard of a family directly affects people's material living standards. The economic status of a family or elderly directly affects their choice of old-age care methods, also affects the quality of elderly people's old-age care. Due to the limited physical function, self-care ability, cognitive ability and low or no financial income of the elderly, their long-term care needs will spill over from themselves to their families, their children or grandchildren, and when the families also cannot afford the financial pressure of long-term care, such care needs will spill over to the government and society (22). In a word, the better the family's economic situation, the more children there are, the lower the spillover demand of the elderly.
LI F and Gao X et al. (23) found that the higher the economic level of the family, the better the health of middle-aged and elderly people. In China, especially in rural areas, family care is still the primary choice for the elderly who need long-term care. However, rural families are generally in poor economic condition and do not have a stable income. The offspring caregivers of longevity families have already entered the old age sequence and are facing retirement and unemployment. To care for the elderly, some family caregivers need to give up or lose their previous jobs, resulting in reduced livelihoods and increased financial pressure, which also affect and limit the reproductive choices of families and the growth of the number of family generations. In recent years, strengthening the function of family aging and improving long-term care policies have increasingly become hot topics. In 2016, the European Commission (24) clearly emphasized the importance of providing support to family caregivers and encouraging family members to provide long-term family care to elderly disabled members of low to medium level. Therefore, a long-term care system for the elderly should be established and improved. The government should pay more attention to the longevity elderly and their family caregivers, ensure the supply of personnel, funds, and related services for their long-term care as much as possible, and provide necessary assistance. Based on improving the economic situation of families, we can promote the willingness of families to fertility, increase the numbers of generations, reduce the pressure of long-term care for individual caregivers, which do help to promote subjective well-being of the elderly, especially the longevity elderly.
This study is the first to investigate the effect of the number of generations count on intergenerational support for longevity elderly. Using longevity families as an entry point, this study analyzes and explores this particular intergenerational support in the context of ultra-high age, providing new insights into the link between the number of family generations and intergenerational support. However, there are some limitations in this study: (1) Limited by time and manpower, only conducted quantitative research. (2) The sample size is limited for that longevity elderly are a scarce and extremely old population with limited physical function and communication ability. In the follow-up research survey, expanding the survey coverage of longevity areas and increasing the number of long-lived seniors who can be surveyed, and the process of implementing policy measures, based on quantitative research and qualitative research, the government, society, and senior institutions should work together to explore the intergenerational support status and influencing factors of longevity elderly families.