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Coresidence between unmarried aging parents and their adult children - Who moved in with whom and why?

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Abstract

Data from the 1993 to 1995 waves of the Asset and Health Dynamics among the Oldest Old were used to analyze unmarried elderly parents' and children's characteristics associated with their respective self-reported reasons for coresidence: always lived together, to help the child, to help the parent, or to help both. As compared to the parents in the always-lived-together pairs, parents as the help receivers were older, had more health problems, and were more likely to have moved in with an older, married child. Children as the help recipients were more likely to be sons than daughters and less likely to work or make a financial contribution to the household. Parents in the mutual-help group were more likely to have higher education and to have been divorced, separated, or never married than to be widowed, and the children were more likely to be married. Parental gender and race/ethnicity were not significant factors.

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... No studies have yet looked at correlates of three-generation family households in particular, although several studies have looked at correlates of multigenerational households more broadly (Choi, 2003;Cohen & Casper, 2002;Kamo, 2000;Ruggles, 2003Ruggles, , 2007. This literature has found that correlates fell into three broad categories: (a) economic need, (b) culture, and (c) generational needs. ...
... Mothers in poor health or with a needy baby (e.g., with a low birth weight or a physical or cognitive disability) may also need to coreside. In the same way, the needs of the grandparent generation, such as poor physical or mental health, may also influence the decision to coreside (Choi, 2003;Cohen & Casper, 2002). Research has shown that assistance generally flows from the grandparent to the parent generation (Fingerman, Miller, Birdit, & Zarit, 2009;Grundy, 2005); thus, one might expect the needs of the parent generation to be more highly correlated with coresidence (Aquilino). ...
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Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 4,898), this study investigated how the share, correlates, transition patterns, and duration of 3-generation households vary by mother’s relationship status at birth. Nine percent of married mothers, 17% of cohabiting mothers, and 45% of single mothers lived in a 3-generation family household at the time of the child’s birth. Incidence over time was much higher and most common among single-mother households: Sixty percent lived in a 3-generation family household at least 1 wave. Economic need, culture, and generational needs were associated with living in a 3-generation household; correlates varied by mother’s relationship status. Three-generation family households were short lived, and transitions were frequent. Kin support through coresidence was an important source of support for families with young children and in particular families in which the parents were unwed at the time of their child’s birth.
... The direction of needs and exchange relationships between adults in extended-family households, moreover, is not uniform. Younger adults may either receive or provide care and economic resources, or both, to and from parents (Choi, 2003). Extended families are normally at highest risk of break-up (Richards, White, & Tsui, 1987), and physical displacement occasioned by a disaster or catastrophe is likely to exacerbate this risk. ...
... Moreover, the present study's finding that adult children of the household head were especially likely to be involved in break-up of the pre-Katrina household indicates a need to examine the adverse effects of population-displacing disasters on protective household structures at all ages. Whereas elders' needs for extended-family assistance have traditionally been emphasized (Angel et al., 2007), economic vulnerability has been shown to be higher in some cases for the adult children than for their middle-aged and older parents (Choi, 2003). In the relationships of individuals within New Orleans households explored in the present study, adult children were found to be by far the largest single group to separate from the household head following Hurricane Katrina. ...
Article
Theory and evidence on disaster-induced population displacement have focused on individual and population-subgroup characteristics. Less is known about impacts on households. I estimate excess incidence of household breakup resulting from Hurricane Katrina by comparing a probability sample of pre-Katrina New Orleans resident adult household heads and non-household heads (N = 242), traced just over a year later, with a matched sample from a nationally representative survey over an equivalent period. One in three among all adult non-household heads, and one in two among adult children of household heads, had separated from the household head 1 year post-Katrina. These rates were, respectively, 2.2 and 2.7 times higher than national rates. A 50% higher prevalence of adult children living with parents in pre-Katrina New Orleans than nationally increased the hurricane's impact on household breakup. Attention to living arrangements as a dimension of social vulnerability in disaster recovery is suggested.
... This is mainly because many older adults who coreside with their children are in poor health and need to be cared for by the family members. This finding is in line with the litera- ture [61][62][63][64]. One strength of the study is the application of the frailty index to construct a more robust indicator of health to better capture the multifaceted overall health condition. ...
Article
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Background Despite the well-established power of frailty to predict mortality, and the known associations of socioeconomic status (SES) with mortality, it is largely unknown whether the linkage between frailty and mortality varies across different SES groups. This study aims to investigate whether SES moderates the association between frailty and mortality. Methods We relied on the 2008/2009 and 2011/2012 waves of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, a nationwide sample of 13,731 adults aged 65 or older in China. Frailty was constructed using a cumulative index of 38 items (with 39 deficits) reflecting different dimensions of health; the index or the proportion of deficits ranges from 0 to 1, with greater scores indicating poorer health condition. SES was measured by a socioeconomic vulnerability index (SEVI) also from a similar cumulative approach consisting of 6 deficits; the proportion of deficits ranges from 0 to 1 with higher scores indicating lower SES. Eight Weibull hazard regression models were performed to examine how SES moderates the linkage between frailty and mortality. ResultsWe found that a one percentage point increase in the frailty index was associated with an increased hazard ratio (HR) by 2.7 % (HR = 1.027, 95 % CI: 1.025–1.027); a one percentage point increase in SEVI score was associated with an increased hazard ratio by 0.6 % (HR = 1.006, 95 % CI: 1.004–1.008) controlling for demographics. When interactions between SEVI and frailty index were modeled, the increased mortality risk associated with frailty was weaker among people with lower SES than among people with higher SES (HR = 0.983, 95 % CI: 0.967–0.992). However, the moderating role of SES was diminished when interactions between SES and age and between frailty and age were modeled. With increasing age, the increased mortality risks associated with frailty and socioeconomic vulnerability weakened. Conclusions Frailty was a stronger predictor of mortality among individuals with higher SES than those with lower SES. The increased mortality risks associated with socioeconomic vulnerability and frailty weakened with age. Public health programs aimed at improving SES and promoting healthy longevity should start early in old age, or even earlier, and target poor and frail older adults for maximum impact.
... Coresidence with parents is more likely when parents have greater needs for support from their children (Smits et al. 2010). For example, parents' health problems generate greater needs for the presence of caregivers in the household (Choi 2003) and could therefore encourage an adult child to move back to the parental home (Smits et al. 2010). We hypothesized that stronger ties to parents and greater parental needs for support in Black and Hispanic families than in White families can potentially explain the delayed launch of young Black and Hispanic adults (Hypothesis 4a) and their increased risks of home-returning (Hypothesis 4b). ...
Article
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Background: Although Black and Hispanic young adults in the U.S. are less likely than Whites to move out of the parental home and more likely than Whites to return, reasons for these differences have not been clearly identified. Objective: This study examines the ability of racial/ethnic disparities in life course transitions, socioeconomic resources, and family connectivity to account for racial/ethnic differences in leaving and returning home. Methods: Using data from the 2005-2011 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics' Transition into Adulthood study (N=1,491, age 18 to 26), we estimated discrete-time event history models predicting the timing of moving out of and back into the parental home. Results: Although no single factor completely explained racial-ethnic differences in the timing of leaving and returning to the parental home, the bulk of the Black-White differences in both home-leaving and home-returning was explained by group differences in transitions into adult roles, the ability to afford independent living, and connections to the origin family. These factors also explained most of the Mexican-White difference in home-leaving. However, only a small portion of the Hispanic-White difference in returning home was attributable to the proposed explanatory variables. Conclusion: Explanations for racial and ethnic differences in the timing of leaving and returning to the parental home need to consider a broad array of life course characteristics in which Black, Hispanic, and White youth differ. The factors that explain Black-White differences in home-leaving and home-returning may differ from those that explain Hispanic-White differences in these behaviors.
... We therefore hypothesise that separated mothers with younger children, especially preschoolers, and those with more children are more likely to move to the municipality of the grandmother (H3). Generally, coresidence is more common among adult children without employment and economically more disadvantaged households (Grundy, 2000; Choi, 2003; Hank, 2007; Smits et al., 2010). This association may be even stronger in case of a separation, owing to associated income loss. ...
Article
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Starting from a life course perspective, this study aims to gain more insight into mobility patterns of recently separated mothers, focusing especially on moves to the location of their own mother: the maternal grandmother. Separated mothers, having linked lives with their own mothers, may benefit from their practical and emotional support. Additionally, the grandparents' home can be a (temporary) place to stay shortly after divorce. Data come from the System of social statistical datasets (Statistics Netherlands). This unique dataset combines longitudinal data from a vast number of administrative registers. It covers the complete Dutch population, making it exceptionally well suited for life course and mobility research. We studied mothers with minor children between 1/1/2008 and 31/12/2010. Our study included 579,500 mothers, of whom about 8,800 (1.5%) experienced a separation in 2008. Separated mothers moved to the grandmother's municipality more often than non-separated mothers, which might be partially motivated by the need for childcare. They also coresided with the grandmother more than non-separated movers, mostly because of a vulnerable socio-economic position. Although often temporary, coresidence appears to have a prolonged impact on the mothers' location choice; mothers frequently stayed in the grandmother's municipality after moving out. Finally, our results indicated that some mothers seemed to use the parental home as a stepping stone to cohabit with a new partner. © 2016 The Authors. Population, Space and Place published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
... Recent studies have begun to analyze how older adult relationships of dependence differ by proximity to kin (Ha, Carr, Utz, & Nesse, 2005). Additional studies have pointed toward colocation of older adults and kin in terms of mutual benefits (Choi, 2003). ...
Article
This article uses a qualitative, ethnographic approach to examine the experiences older adults and their kin, as the older adult engages in relocation. Studies looking at caregiving by kin for older adults highlight burdens for the adult child. This study offers a life course perspective on kinship care, analyzing older adults' decisions' to move. It was found that many older adults are strongly influenced by the desire to not be cared for by their kin as well as to select housing near their existing social network, which might exclude kin. In conclusion, policy implications are discussed.
... Coresidence has been shown to positively relate to cooperative behavior between parents and their adult children as measured Schaffnit and Sear @BULLET Wealth modifies kin influences by providing childcare to grandchildren (Hank and Buber 2009;Smits et al. 2010;Heylen et al. 2012), and such childcare independently has been shown to positively affect women's fertility (Kaptijn et al. 2010;Aassve et al. 2012; Mathews and Sear 2013b). Extended coresidence with kin may, however, indicate poverty (particularly in contexts where adults are expected to maintain households separate from their parents, as has been typical in Western Europe for several centuries: Hanjnal 1982) and/or the need to support either a parent or child incapable of independent living (Choi 2003;Robila 2004), although, empirically, most supportive investments are from older to younger generations as predicted evolutionarily (White 1994 ...
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Kin are generally expected to behave more cooperatively with their relatives than with unrelated individuals, and this cooperative behavior may result in positive effects on fitness. Such kin effects are likely to be modified by resource availability: in contexts of resource stress, cooperation among kin may disappear or weaken as more energy is required for investment in self. We use the Generations and Gender Survey, a large, multinational demographic survey, to test the following: firstly, how kin availability measures (parental survival status and coresidence with parents) affect measures of women's fitness (timing of first birth, total fertility, and prob-ability of childlessness); and, secondly, whether wealth (an indicator of resource stress or abundance) modifies kin effects in a high-income, low-fertility setting. We find differing effects of survival status of, and coresidence with, parents on fertility outcomes. Having a living mother tends to be correlated with higher fitness: women with living mothers have earlier first births, and mothers' death in early life is correlated with a higher probability of childlessness. Fathers' survival has no effect on any outcome. Coresidence with parents, on the other hand, delays first births and results in lower total fertility and higher probability of childlessness. We additionally find that the negative effects of coresidence on reproductive outcomes are exaggerated for poor women. Our results speak of the role of environment in modifying the relationship between kin and fertility.
... Longer-term change in coresidence reflects two divergent trends: an increase in the age at which young adults marry and leave their parents' households (tending to increase intergenerational coresidence) and a rise in independent living in old age (tending to decrease intergenerational coresidence) ( Furstenberg et al. 2005, McGarry & Schoeni 2000). Who is helped by shared housing is not always clear, although there is some evidence from parents' reports that they are coresiding to benefit their adult children until close to the end of the parent's life, when the net benefit to the older generation may be greater ( Choi 2003). The economic value for young adults of coresidence with parents is substantial ( Schoeni & Ross 2005). ...
Article
Demographic change in who becomes a parent, how many children parents have, and the marital statuses of parents and children affect the extent to which parents and adult children provide for each other later in life. We describe these demographic changes and their implications for help parents and children give each other throughout their adult years. The changing demography of U.S. families has increased both generations’ need for family assistance among those already disadvantaged and exacerbated differences between the socioeconomically advantaged and disadvantaged in the availability of kin support. Variation in the marital histories of parents and children also contribute to a divergence between mother-child and father-child relationships in later life. The churning of couple relationships in both generations blurs the boundaries between who is in the family and who is not, threatening the effectiveness of the family safety net among those who may need it the most. Expected final online publication d...
... Much of the research on living arrangements has focused on multigenerational coresidence of parents and their adult children (i.e. Burr & Mutchler, 1999; Choi, 2003; Ruggles, 2007, Silverstein et al., 2006) and the extent to which parents and their adult children rely on one another for instrumental and social support. Given that relationships among these family members may be guided by clearly defined social norms of responsibility, we may expect that a household shared by parents and adult children will garner a greater willingness to provide resources to family members, regardless of potential for immediate reciprocation, than households with other types of kinship ties (Hamilton, 1964; Goode, 1982). ...
Article
Shared living arrangements can provide housing, economies of scale, and other instrumental support and may become an important resource in times of economic constraint. But the extent to which such living arrangements experience continuity or rapid change in composition is unclear. Previous research on extended-family households tended to focus on factors that trigger the onset of coresidence, including life course events or changes in health status and related economic needs. Relying on longitudinal data from 9,932 households in the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), the analyses demonstrate that the distribution of economic resources in the household also influences the continuity of shared living arrangements. The results suggest that multigenerational households of parents and adult children experience greater continuity in composition when one individual or couple has a disproportionate share of the economic resources in the household. Other coresidential households, those shared by other kin or nonkin, experience greater continuity when resources are more evenly distributed.
... We should be wary of the assumption that older people who live with their adult children are necessarily doing so because of poverty or disability. Even today, there is substantial evidence that intergenerational coresidence often, and perhaps usually, results more from the needs of adult children than from the needs of their elderly parents (Aquilino, 1990; Choi 2003; Crimmins & Ingegneri, 1990; Kotlikoff & Morris, 1990; Smits, Gaalen, & Mulder, 2010; Spear & Avery, 1993; Ward, Logan, & Spitze, 1992; cf. Moehling, 1995). ...
Article
This study uses a new source of linked census data (N = 6,734) to test theories proposed to explain the high intergenerational coresidence in 19th-century America. Was it a system of support for dependent elderly, or did it reflect intergenerational interdependence? I focus on transitions from middle age to old age, and I assess key predictors of family transitions, including widowhood, retirement, disability, migration, and wealth. The results show that adverse events precipitated changes in the headship of intergenerational families but did not increase the likelihood of residing in an intergenerational family. The findings suggest that 19th-century intergenerational coresidence was not principally a means of old-age support; more often, probably, there was a reciprocal relationship between generations.
... Seniors with functional limitations are significantly more likely to be deceased or institutionalized at follow-up than to live independently (Burr and Mutchler 2007; Dostie and Leger 2005; Miller and Weissert 2000). Parents who coreside with adult children or others are generally in poorer health compared to those living alone or with spouses (Choi 2003). Psychological distress is associated with an increased risk for mortality in the general population (Robinson, McBeth, and Mac- Farlane 2004) and among seniors (Wilkins 2006). ...
Article
This study tracked the occurrence of death, widowhood, institutionalization, and coresidence with others between 1994 and 2002 for a nationally representative sample of 1,580 Canadian respondents who, at initial interview, were aged 55 and older and living in a couple-only household. Although the majority of seniors remained in a couple-only household throughout the duration of the survey, nearly one in four who experienced a first transition underwent one or more subsequent transitions. Age, economic resources, and health were significant predictors of a specific first transition and multiple transitions. More work is needed to understand the dynamics of the aging process.
... Help is typically only provided when there are needs to be met. Elderly parents received more assistance when they were in poor health and lived in their own residence (as opposed to a senior residence) (Choi, 2003). On one hand, when adult children had families of their own, they were more likely to ask their older parents to provide childcare for grandchildren (Wang & Marcotte, 2007). ...
Article
This paper uses recent data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (N = 5,220) to explore gender differences in the extent to which adults in their 50s and 60s provide informal help to their adult children, elderly parents and friends We find that both men and women report very high levels of helping kin and nonkin alike, though women do more to assist elderly parents and women provide much more emotional support to others than do men. Men provide more assistance than do women with "housework, yard work and repairs." As they retire from the workforce, married men become significantly more involved in the care of their grandchildren, virtually eliminating any gender difference by the time they are in their 60s.
... In the case of coresidence, both generations also benefit from economies of scale through shared resources and public goods, although some of these may be evident for proximate relationships as well (e.g., an older parent may not need a car if a child can help with running errands). Thus, while there are benefits (and costs) accruing to both generations, evidence suggests that as parents age and their health declines, the balance shifts and elderly parents appear to benefit more from coresidence / proximity than do their children (Choi, 2003; Speare and Avery, 1993). Of importance then is a description and understanding of the long-term patterns of living arrangements and geographic proximity and an examination of the changing benefits over time. ...
Article
Perhaps the largest problem confronting our aging population is the rising cost of health care, particularly the costs borne by Medicare and Medicaid. A chief component of this expense is long-term care. Much of this care for an unmarried (mostly widowed) mother is currently provided by adult children. The provision of family care depends importantly on the geographic dispersion of family members. In this study we provide preliminary evidence on the geographic dispersion of adult children and their older unmarried mother. Coresidence is less likely for married adult children, those who are parents and the highly educated and more likely for those who are not working or only employed part time and for black and Hispanic adult children. Close proximity is more common for married children who are parents but less common for the highly educated. When we look at transitions between one wave of data collection and the next (a 2-year interval), about half of adult children live more than 10 miles away at both points, a little less than one quarter live within 10 miles at both points, and 8 percent are coresident at both points in time. Among the 17 percent who make a transition, about half of the changes result in greater distance between the adult child and mother and half bring them into closer proximity. The needs of both generations are likely reflected in these transitions. In fact, a mother’s health is not strongly related to most transitions and if anything, distance tends to be greater for older mothers relative to those mothers in their early 50s.
... For grandmothers in multigenerational homes, the co-residence of multiple generations may occur when a teen or adult child has a baby, or when health problems, divorce, or job loss, usually in the adult child (parent) generation, prompts the multigenerational living arrangement (Musil & Ahmad;Pruchno & McKenney, 2002). In most multigenerational homes, the grandmother, with/without a spouse, heads the household (Choi, 2003). Grandmothers in multigenerational households sometimes transition out of their co-parenting role (Standing, Musil, & Warner, 2007) when family circumstances change, e.g., the co-residing adult child marries and moves out with the grandchildren. ...
Article
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This study used the resiliency model of family stress, adjustment, and adaptation as the framework to examine the main and moderating effects of social support and resourcefulness in the relationship between family life stresses and strain and depressive symptoms in grandmothers raising grandchildren, grandmothers in multigenerational homes, and noncaregivers to grandchildren. A sample of 486 Ohio grandmothers, recruited using random and supplemental convenience methods, completed mailed surveys. Analysis of variance was used to examine differences in family life stresses and strain, resourcefulness, support, and depressive symptoms across the three groups of grandmothers. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to examine whether family stresses and strains affected the grandmother's depressive symptoms and whether social support and resourcefulness moderated the relationship between family stresses and strain and grandmothers' mental health. Grandmothers raising grandchildren reported more depressive symptoms, but in multiple regression analyses of the full sample that controlled for demo-graphics, primary caregiving status was not related to depressive symptoms. More strain and less subjective support and resourcefulness were associated with higher depressive symptoms for all grandmothers, with 33% to 54% explained variances of such symptoms for each caregiving group and the full sample. Subjective support moderated the effects of strain and instrumental support moderated the effects of family life stresses on depressive symptoms. Social support and resourcefulness may help protect grandmothers from the effects of family stresses and strain, and interventions to enhance these factors may assist grandmother caregivers to achieve better mental health.
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Objectives We offer new insights on how older adults in the U.S. navigate the aftermath of gray divorce (i.e., divorce that occurs among adults aged 50+) by describing their living arrangements upon divorce and tracking the stability of these configurations over time. Living arrangements are important to decipher because they are linked to health, well-being, and longevity. Methods Using data from the 1998-2014 Health and Retirement Study, we uncovered patterns of U.S. older adult living arrangements upon divorce (N = 1,057), distinguishing among those who lived alone, lived with others, and lived with a new partner. Multinomial logistic regression models were estimated to assess how individual characteristics (demographics, marital biography, economic resources, health, and social ties) were associated with these configurations. Cumulative survival probabilities gauged the relative stability of these three living arrangements. Results About half of U.S. adults lived alone upon gray divorce, another one-third lived with others, and the remaining 14% lived with a new partner. Adults living with a new partner tended to exhibit the most advantaged sociodemographic profiles whereas those living solo or with others were largely comparable. More than 70% of adults experienced a subsequent living arrangement transition if they lived with others upon divorce, versus just 50% of those living alone and only 30% of those with a new partner. Discussion After divorce, older adults reside in a range of living arrangements, some of which are more stable than others. Future work should address whether and how these arrangements and their durability are related to post-divorce adjustment.
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Many U.S. parents share a household with an adult child in later life. However, the reasons parents and adult children coreside may vary over time and across family race/ethnicity, shaping relationships with parents' mental health. Using the Health and Retirement Study, this study investigates the determinants and mental health correlates of coresidence with adult children from 1998 to 2018 among White, Black, and Hispanic parents under age 65 and aged 65+. Findings show that the predictors of coresidence shifted with increasing odds that parents lived with an adult child, and several varied by parents' age group and race/ethnicity. Compared with White parents, Black and Hispanic parents were more likely to live with adult children, especially at older ages, and to indicate that they helped their children with household finances or functional limitations. Living with adult children was associated with higher depressive symptoms among White parents, and mental health was negatively related to living with adult children who were not working or were helping parents with functional limitations. The findings highlight increasing diversity among adult child-coresident parents and underscore persistent differences in the predictors and meaning of coresidence with adult children across race/ethnicity.
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A growing share of Canadian households are living in unaffordable housing (i.e. spending 30% or more of their pre-tax income on housing costs). During this time, the prevalence of multigenerational living has also increased. Ethnic minority families are more likely than White families to live in multigenerational households. These trends raise the questions: (a) is multigenerational living a strategy for families to navigate the housing affordability crisis? (b) do ethnic minority children benefit more from multigenerational living than their White peers? Using confidential data from the 2016 Canadian Census, we examine how multigenerational living shapes the housing experiences of children under the age of 16. Multigenerational living is associated with consistent reductions in children’s odds of living in unaffordable housing. Yet, for those in single-parent families, this protective association is largest among White children. For those in dual-parent families, this protective association is largest among Black children. Socioeconomic disadvantage and a greater propensity for three-generation families to reside in metropolitan areas with expensive housing appear to suppress the benefits emerging from multigenerational living.
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This study empirically examines the effects of self-reported health on housing tenure decisions of Indigenous Australians. Using longitudinal data drawn from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey covering 2001-2019, we use indicators of housing tenure decisions that reflect home ownership and transitions from renting to owning and vice versa. We find that better health is associated with a higher probability of homeownership and a higher probability of transitioning from renting to homeownership. We examine preference to continue living in an area, neighbourhood satisfaction, home satisfaction and social capital as potential channels through which health influence housing tenure decision. We find evidence to support the validity of all these factors as channels except social capital. The policy implications of the study are then explored.
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Over the last two decades, the share of U.S. children under age 18 who live in a multigenerational household (with a grandparent and parent) has increased dramatically. Yet we do not know whether this increase is a recent phenomenon or a return to earlier levels of coresidence. Using data from the decennial census from 1870 to 2010 and the 2018 American Community Survey, we examine historical trends in children’s multigenerational living arrangements, differences by race/ethnicity and education, and factors that explain the observed trends. We find that in 2018, 10% of U.S. children lived in a multigenerational household, a return to levels last observed in 1950. The current increase in multigenerational households began in 1980, when only 5% of children lived in such a household. Few differences in the prevalence of multigenerational coresidence by race/ethnicity or education existed in the early part of the twentieth century; racial/ethnic and education differences in coresidence are a more recent phenomena. Decomposition analyses do little to explain the decline in coresidence between 1940 and 1980, suggesting that unmeasured factors explain the decrease. Declines in marriage and in the share of White children most strongly explained the increase in multigenerational coresidence between 1980 and 2018. For White children with highly educated parents, factors explaining the increase in coresidence differ from other groups. Our findings suggest that the links between race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status and multigenerational coresidence have changed over time, and today the link between parental education and coresidence varies within racial/ethnic groups.
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Background: Previous studies show contradictory findings on the relationship between health and intergenerational living arrangements (ILA), which may be due to variation in who selects themselves into and out of ILA. Addressing the selectivity into ILA and the health of the older generation, we assess whether there is a health-protective or health-damaging effect of ILA. We locate our study in the Russian context, where ILA is prevalent and men’s health has become a public health issue. Methods: We apply a fixed-effect logistic regression to self-rated health status of 11,546 men aged 25 years or older who participated in at least two waves in the RLMS from 1994-2015. To further isolate the health effect of ILA, we observe only associations after transitioning into or out of ILA. Results: A transition into co-residence with an unhealthy older generation increases men’s odds of reporting poor health (OR=0.64, CI 0.44-0.93). A transition out of co-residence with a healthy older generation decreases men’s odds of reporting fine health by 63% (OR=0.37, CI 0.28-0.50), whereas continuing to live with an unhealthy older generation decreases the odds by half (OR=0.49, CI 0.38-0.63). Conclusions: We reveal a health interlinkage between co-residing generations by finding a detrimental health effect of co-residence with an unhealthy older generation. No longer living with an older generation who was in fine health also negatively affects men’s health. Future studies should address heterogeneity related to the health of older generations, unobserved time-constant characteristics of younger generations, and selectivity into/out of ILA.<br/
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This review aims to advance the field of aging research by examining coresidence with family, race, and other characteristics as potential determinants of choice and control in older adults. Living with family likely impacts perceived choice and control, as household members often work together to make decisions about care. Race may also influence choice and control, as an accumulation of challenges and opportunities create unique life experiences. This review considers human agency in its examination of choice and control. Suggestions for future research will be discussed.
Chapter
Intergenerational households have been on the rise since the early twenty-first century. Contrary to popular belief, most are formed to allow elderly parents to provide assistance to adult children and/or grandchildren. Minority families are more likely than white families to live in intergenerational households, and low-income families are more likely to live in intergenerational households than are affluent families. Households consisting only of grandparents and grandchildren have even higher rates of poverty. Intergenerational households, and when and why they form, are affected by public policies, both those aimed at mothers and families and those aimed at the elderly, and by changes in economic conditions.
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Coresidence of elderly parents and adult children is a special form of intergenerational relations that is not uncommon in European societies. Why do adult children and parents live together? In what way do individual characteristics, family structures, and cultural contexts play a crucial role? How can differences between countries be explained? Are there discrepancies between adult generations sharing the same household and those who live in separate homes within the same building ("near coresidence")? The empirical analyses reported in this article are based on the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. The findings prove the importance of individual needs and opportunities of children and parents as well as the relevance of family structures. Country comparisons show that welfare-state arrangements have a substantial effect. In fact, coresidence appears to be a response to economic insecurities at both individual and societal levels.
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This article argues that the concept of the East Asian welfare regime can be further developed by examining the changing role of the family in welfare provision. Beginning with a brief literature review of the East Asian welfare model, the family has been regarded as the main welfare provider among East Asian societies. Nevertheless, from a policy-centred perspective, the oversimplified picture of the East Asian welfare model does not reveal how families actually perform in welfare provision or how the dynamic change in the welfare mix for vulnerable groups under the welfare regime has been accommodated. This article presents a case study and shows that while most elderly people in Taiwan still live with their children, who are also their main means of support, a significant number of them are living alone and that much of the economic support they used to receive from nongovernmental organisation now comes from the state.
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For older adults aging in the community, living conditions can promote health, enhance coping, and reduce disablement—but they can also create stress and increase risks of illness, accidents, and decline. Although socioeconomic disparities in housing likely contribute to inequalities in interior conditions, I argue that living conditions are also shaped by social resources such as coresidential relationships, social network ties, and social support. In this article, I examine the distribution of a set of risky or stressful physical and ambient living conditions including structural disrepair, clutter, lack of cleanliness, noise, and odor. Using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), I find that low-income and African American older adults have more disordered living conditions as do those with poorer physical and mental health. In addition, older adults who have a coresident partner, more nonresidential network ties, and more sources of instrumental support are exposed to fewer risky or harmful living conditions. This suggests that living conditions are an important, though overlooked, mechanism through which household composition, social networks, and social support affect health and well-being in later life.
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Children who live with or near a parent provide more care and receive more help from parents than geographically distant children. Stepfamily ties may be weaker than ties between biological kin, but little is known about the geographic proximity of step- versus biological kin. The authors used data from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 13,239 mothers and 45,675 biological and stepchildren) to show that stepchildren and stepmothers are less likely to live together, less likely to live nearby, and less likely to move closer than biological children and mothers. When mothers have only stepchildren, they are less likely to have a coresident child or a child nearby than mothers with both step- and biological children. Coresidence and geographic proximity are lower in stepfamilies formed after divorce than after widowhood. The findings are consistent with a legacy of conflict and strain and the likely competing needs of biological and stepmothers.
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This inquiry examined whether social networks are associated with wellbeing among older-old people in the same way that they are among younger-old persons. The study focused on family respondents, aged 60 and older, from the second wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (N=14,728). The statistical analysis regressed two wellbeing measures (the CASP quality of life scale and life satisfaction) on a range of social network variables from three domains: family structure and interaction, social exchange and social engagement. In addition, the inquiry viewed these associations through the lens of age-based interaction terms, controlling for background characteristics, health status and region. The analysis revealed that the associations between subjective wellbeing and social network vary according to age. Among younger-old respondents, aged 60–79, more significant associations were found between social network variables and wellbeing outcomes in comparison to older-old respondents, aged 80 or older. Differences between age groups also emerged with the direction of the associations between social network variables and subjective wellbeing. The study results reveal that social networks do matter in very old age, but not in the same way as among younger-old persons. This finding is one indication of the differences that may emerge between third-age adults and those approaching the fourth age.
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This study examines the role of proximity of children to their parents and recent moves of children within a proximate distance in housing tenure transitions of older households. This study is the first to investigate the interplay between health status of older households, moves of their children, and a household’s decision to make housing tenure transitions. In doing so, we rely on longitudinal household data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) with residential location information at the census tract level. The results demonstrate that after controlling for the financial and demographic characteristics of children, living near children reduces the likelihood of making a housing tenure transition for older households, but that the impact of distance is not monotonic with respect to the degree of geographic distances. The results also demonstrate that if a child enters or move closer to their parents’ home, it increases the probability that older households exit homeownership. Finally, we find no evidence that children’s moves mitigate the likelihood that their older parents whose health deteriorates become a renter.
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Longitudinal studies have suggested that households are much more fluid than was once believed. Yet our understanding of changes in household composition is based on limited sets of transitions occurring across relatively long intervals. Furthermore, we know relatively little about ethnoracial variation in household dynamics. Using data from a sample of older Floridians, the authors describe race differences in longitudinal patterns of household change that occurred during four 6-month intervals. Approximately one quarter of respondents experienced some change in composition during the 24-month study. Older African Americans lived in larger and more dynamic households and were more likely to form coresident relationships with grandchildren and nonrelatives. Age, gender, marital status, and disability were also associated with the likelihood of acquiring a new household member. Findings from this research provide additional insight into the processes through which race differences in the composition of households emerge and are maintained over time.
Article
Using administrative data on all adult children living in The Netherlands age 30–40 and their parents (N = 1,999,700), we investigated the extent to which situations and events associated with the support needs and privacy needs of either generation determine intergenerational coresidence and the transition to coresidence. Logistic and multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that both generations' support needs increased the likelihood of coresidence and of a move of the generation in need into the other's home. Turning to privacy needs, we found that coresidence and the transition to coresidence was less likely when a partner or stepparent was present and more likely when the adult child was a never-married single parent.
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Research on coresidence between parents and their adult children in the United States has challenged the myth that elders are the primary beneficiaries, instead showing that intergenerationally extended households generally benefit the younger generation more than their parents. Nevertheless, the economic fortunes of those at the older and younger ends of the adult life course have shifted in the second half of the twentieth century, with increasing financial well-being among older adults and greater financial strain among younger adults. This article uses U.S. census and American Community Survey (ACS) data to examine the extent to which changes in generational financial well-being over the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have been reflected in the likelihood of coresidence and financial dependency in parent-adult child U.S. households between 1960 and 2010. We find that younger adults have become more financially dependent on their parents and that while older adults have become more financially independent of their adult children, they nevertheless coreside with their needy adult children. We also find that the effect of economic considerations in decisions about coresidence became increasingly salient for younger adults, but decreasingly so for older adults.
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This paper compares the levels and determinants of intergenerational co-residence among older women and men in Egypt and Tunisia. Women in both settings have higher odds than do men of living in child-headed households, largely because women more often are widowed and have fewer economic resources. In Tunisia, women have higher odds than do men of living in child-headed households partly because of their poorer health. In Egypt, the odds of living in parent- and child-headed intergenerational households for unmarried compared to married older adults are higher for women than men. Disparate needs and marital histories likely contribute to the different living arrangements of older women and men in these settings.
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This paper examines the role of care decision processes on informal caring-time choices. We focus on three care decisions: the caregiver's own decision, a family decision and a recipient request. Results show that informal caregivers, engaged in care activities as a result of a family decision, are more likely to devote more than 5 h to care activities, even after allowing for endogeneity. Our findings are robust to controlling for a large number of socio-demographic characteristics, including care recipient and caregiver characteristics. Supplemental analysis, developed to explore whether care arrangements are related to informal caregiver's satisfaction, indicates that the family decision heavily penalizes informal caregivers. Given the importance of informal care activities in reducing health care costs, our findings imply that care decision processes should be taken into consideration when formulating health care policies.
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In the mid-nineteenth century, almost 70 percent of persons age 65 or older resided with their adult children; by the end of the twentieth century, fewer than 15 percent did so. Many scholars have argued that the simplification of the living arrangements of the aged resulted primarily from an increase in their resources, which enabled increasing numbers of elders to afford independent living. This article supports a different interpretation: the evidence suggests that the decline of coresidence between generations had less to do with the growing affluence of the aged than with the increasing opportunities of the younger generation. Using data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS), I examine long-run trends in the characteristics of both the older and the younger generations to gain insight into changing motivations for coresidence. In particular, I investigate headship patterns, occupational status, income, and spatial coresidence patterns. I also reassess the potential impact of the Social Security program. I conclude that the decline of intergenerational coresidence resulted mainly from increasing opportunities for the young and declining parental control over their children.
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We used McCubbin's Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation ( McCubbin, Thompson, & McCubbin, 2001) to examine how demographic factors, family stress, grandmother resourcefulness, support, and role reward affect perceptions of family functioning for grandmothers raising grandchildren, grandmothers living in multigenerational households, and grandmothers not caregiving for grandchildren. A sample of 486 grandmothers completed a mailed questionnaire. We used structural equation modeling to (a) test the effects of demographic factors (i.e., grandmother's age, race, marital status, and employment), family stressful life events and strain, grandmother's resourcefulness, subjective and instrumental support, and role reward on perceptions of family functioning for each grandmother group; (b) evaluate differences in the measurement and structural models between the grandmother groups using multisample analysis; and (c) test the model on the full sample, coding for caregiver status. The models did not differ significantly by grandmother group; therefore we assessed the composite model using a multisample analysis. We found general support for the resiliency model and equivalence of the models across grandmother groups. Less support, resourcefulness, and reward, and more intrafamily strain and stressful family life events contributed to perceptions of worse family functioning. Findings demonstrate the importance of the quality of family functioning for grandmothers in all types of families.
Article
Prior research seeking to explain variation in extended family coresidence focused heavily on the potentially competing roles of cultural preferences and socioeconomic and demographic structural constraints. We focus on challenges associated with international immigration as an additional factor driving variation across groups. Using 2000 census data from Mexico and the United States, we compare the prevalence and age patterns of various types of extended family and non-kin living arrangements among Mexican-origin immigrants and nonimmigrants on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Additionally, we use the Survey of Income and Program Participation to examine the stability of extended family living arrangements among Mexican-origin immigrants and natives in the United States. We find that newly arrived immigrants to the United States display unique patterns in the composition and stability of their households relative to nonimmigrants in both Mexico and the United States. Recent immigrants are more likely to reside in an extended family or non-kin household, and among those living with relatives, recent immigrants are more likely to live with extended family from a similar generation (such as siblings and cousins). Further, these households experience high levels of turnover. The results suggest that the high levels of coresidence observed among recently arrived Mexican immigrants represent a departure from "traditional" household/family structures in Mexico and are related to the challenges associated with international migration.
Article
Newly available census microdata from IPUMS-International are used to assess trends in intergenerational coresidence in 15 developing countries. Contrary to expectations, we find no general decline in intergenerational coresidence over the past several decades. There have been, however, significant changes in the "configuration" of intergenerational coresidence. Families in which a member of the older generation is household head-a configuration consistent with traditional patriarchal forms in which the older generation retains authority-are becoming more common in most of the countries. Intergenerational families headed by a member of the younger generation-the configuration one would expect if intergenerational coresidence were motivated by a need for old-age support-are on the decline in most of the countries. Multivariate analysis reveals that intergenerational families headed by the older generation are positively associated with measures of economic development. These findings are at variance with widely accepted social theory. We hypothesize that housing shortages, economic stress in the younger generation, and old-age pensions may contribute to the change. More broadly, in some developing countries rising incomes may have allowed more people to achieve their preferred family structure of intergenerational coresidence following traditional family forms. Copyright (c) 2008 The Population Council, Inc..
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