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In the European context, welfare–which is commonly understood as the ability to fulfil one’s basic material and relational needs, allowing one to function as a ‘social’person in society (ie physical survival but also the realization of life chances or capabilities, including the avoidance of stigmatization and shame (for example, Sen, 1992))–is provided by means of qualitatively different sets of arrangements between welfare states, labour markets and families. The so-called ‘generational contract’, pertaining to the exchange of economic, social and emotional support between parents and children–forms part of these arrangements. While support from parents to children mainly takes place at the micro-level of the (extended) family, adult children mostly support their parents through the macro-level welfare system (pensions, health care)(Albertini, 2016). Historically, the latter has ‘freed’children from economic obligations towards elderly parents, making way for a stronger emotional bond between generations and increasing opportunities for the exchange of social and emotional support. In recent decades, this generational contract has come under pressure through various large-scale developments. Demographic ageing increases the pressure on younger generations to perform as ‘net’contributors to the welfare state, while at the same time endangering their own future welfare state transfers.