分析歐盟十五個會員國的養老態度我們發現，經濟社會的現代化與子女同居照顧意願間存有明顯的相關，國民平均所得較高、家庭聯繫較鬆散、非婚生比率較高、女性勞動力參與率較高地區，子女的同居照顧意願較低。丹麥、瑞典、芬蘭、及荷蘭等國的個人主義取向較明顯，只有10%-18%的受訪者認為子女應與父母同居照料失能父母，義大利、愛爾蘭、以及其他西歐諸國居次，最高的是希臘、西班牙、及葡萄牙三國，同居照顧意願達70%以上。資料同時顯示，社會民主主義福利體制國家傾向於將養老費用的主要統籌支付責任歸諸政府，而地中海國家則把責任歸諸子女與政府。隨著經濟與社會的發展，地中海國家的子女奉養意願將會降低，而政府也將在養老政策上扮演更積極主動的地位。

EU member states have a history of close cultural, economic, and political ties, but their populations hold diverse attitudes towards support for the elderly. An analysis of data from the 1997 Eurobarometer Survey shows that a large majority (70%) of EU citizens living in Greece, Spain, and Portugal believe that children should care for aging parents who can no longer manage to live independently, yet only 10-18% of citizens living in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and the Netherlands feel the same way. A negative association was found between level of socioeconomic modemization and willingness to live with ,disabled parents. Those in countries with higher per capita GNP, higher female labor force participation rates, and higher percentages of births outside of marriage also showed lower tendencies of adult children sharing their homes with disabled parents. The survey data also show that citizens living in social democratic countries tend to believe that the state should pay for primary care for the elderly ; however, residents in Mediterranean countries are more likely to agree that the responsibility should be shared by the state and adult children. The author argues that as Mediterranean countries develop economically, rates of parents living with their adult children will decrease, and the governments of ,those countries will have to play a more active role in caring for the elderly.