Parent–Child Coresidence: Who Moves in With Whom and for Whose Needs?

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.     

Greedy Spouse,Needy Parent: The Marital Dynamics of Gay,Lesbian, and Heterosexual Intergenerational Caregivers

It is well established that married heterosexual women do more intergenerational caregiving for aging parents and parents‐in‐law than married heterosexual men do. However, gay men and lesbian women's recent access to marriage presents new questions about the gendered marital dynamics of intergenerational caregiving. We use dyadic data with gay, lesbian, and heterosexual spouses to examine the marital dynamics of intergenerational caregivers. Results show that gay and lesbian spouses provided intensive time and emotional support for an intergenerational caregiver. In contrast, heterosexual women described their intergenerational caregiving as rarely supported and at times even undermined by their spouse. Dyadic data on heterosexual men corroborate women's accounts; heterosexual men rarely reported providing intergenerational caregiving, and thus heterosexual women rarely described providing spousal support. These findings provide new insight into the intermingled roles of “greedy” marriages and “needy” parents, wherein marital negotiations around caregiving vary by gender for gay, lesbian, and heterosexual marital dyads.     

Intergenerational Coresidence Among Small Farmers in Brazilian Amazônia

This article examines intergenerational coresidence among rural farm families near Santarém, Pará, Brazil using survey data collected by the authors on 896 children whose parents live in 175 households on 150 farms. Married adult children, daughters, and the best educated are more likely to live off their parents’ rural property (vs. on the property). Results support arguments that coresidence results from the interests of children rather than the control that parents exert over children. These results have implications for our understanding of intergenerational relations in the developing world and for the future development of similar areas.     

Economic transition and new patterns of parent‐adult child coresidence in Urban China

This study uses national data from the 1996 Life History and Social Change in Contemporary China survey (N= 3,087) to gauge the effect of the economic transition on parent‐adult child coresidence in urban China. Previous studies find that, thanks to state actions, traditional patterns in coresidence persisted in post‐Mao urban China. This study still finds high levels of coresidence. China's aging population, coupled with an underdeveloped social security system, means that the traditional role of family will remain strong. It also uncovers three new patterns, however, best explained as caused by changes in the economic realm. First, the coresidence pattern changes over parents’ life course, shifting from child‐centered to parent‐centered as parents age. Second, class differentials begin to emerge, most notably seen in the unique patterns of the entrepreneurial class. Last, gender differentials remain significant, but the tilt toward sons has strengthened.     

Do Young Mothers and Fathers Differ in the Likelihood of Returning Home?

Building on research examining “boomerang” adult children, the author examines multigenerational living among young parents. Returning home likely differs between young mothers and fathers given variation in socioeconomic characteristics, health and risk taking, their own children's coresidence, and union stability. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), the author finds that more than 40% of young parents (n = 2,721) live with their own parents at their first child's birth or subsequently. Mothers are generally less likely to move home than fathers but only when not controlling for child coresidence and union stability. Individuals who live with all their children are less likely to return home, and controlling for child coresidence reverses gender differences, though this association disappears in the full model. Young parents who are stably single and those who experience dissolution are highly likely to return home compared to the stably partnered, with the association significantly stronger for fathers than mothers.     

Intergenerational Coresidence and Family Transitions in the United States, 1850 - 1880

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.     

Beyond the Nuclear Family: The Increasing Importance of Multigenerational Bonds

Family relationships across several generations are becoming increasingly important in American society. They are also increasingly diverse in structure and in functions. In reply to the widely debated “family decline” hypothesis, which assumes a nuclear family model of 2 biological parents and children, I suggest that family multigenerational relations will be more important in the 21st century for 3 reasons: (a) the demographic changes of population aging, resulting in “longer years of shared lives” between generations; (b) the increasing importance of grandparents and other kin in fulfilling family functions; (c) the strength and resilience of intergenerational solidarity over time. I also indicate that family multigenerational relations are increasingly diverse because of (a) changes in family structure, involving divorce and stepfamily relationships; (b) the increased longevity of kin; (c) the diversity of intergenerational relationship “types.” Drawing on the family research legacy of Ernest W. Burgess, I frame my arguments in terms of historical family transitions and hypotheses. Research from the Longitudinal Study of Generations is presented to demonstrate the strengths of multigenerational ties over time and why it is necessary to look beyond the nuclear family when asking whether families are still functional.     

Ethnic Differences in Returning Home: Explanations From a Life Course Perspective

Ethnic differences in leaving and returning home may reflect varying cultural norms regarding intergenerational coresidence, but also differences in transitions in linked domains, for example, employment and partnership transitions. This study uses Dutch population register data to compare returning home among second‐generation Turks, Moroccans, Surinamese, and Antilleans with native Dutch who had left the parental home between age 16 and 28 in the period 1999 to 2011 (N = 194,020). All second‐generation groups were found to be more likely to return home than native Dutch. A large part of these differences was related to the timing and occurrence of other key events in the life course, such as age at leaving home and partnership dissolution. Although the impact of partnership dissolution on returning home was found to be strong among all origin groups, it was less pronounced among second‐generation youth, particularly Turks and Moroccans, than native Dutch youth. Possible explanations and implications are discussed.     

Elderly Parents’ Need for Help and Adult Children's Moving Decisions

Recent changes in Finnish welfare policies have increased the need for family involvement in eldercare. This article uses qualitative interviews to study working adult daughters’ reasons for moving in with their parent(s). Coresidence was linked to the parents’ need for support, but also to the daughters’ life situations, family histories, the availability of welfare services, and cultural norms and values. The interviewees used the “familist” and “independent life” discourses in their speech. The familist discourse was used to argue for coresidence as a natural continuation of family traditions and life history, whereas the independent life discourse was used to legitimize the need for alternative care options and having a home of their own.     

Life Course Stage in Young Adulthood and Intergenerational Congruence in Family Attitudes

We investigated how intergenerational congruence in family‐related attitudes depends on life course stage in young adulthood. Recent data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study were used; the present sample included 2,041 dyads of young adults and their parents. Findings are discussed in terms of the elasticity in intergenerational attitude congruence in response to young adults' life course transitions. Our results suggest that intergenerational congruence in attitudes about partnership (e.g., marriage, cohabitation, divorce, women's and men's family roles) decreases after young adults have left the parental home and increases when young adults enter parenthood. Congruence concerning intergenerational obligations was not related to young adults' life course stage.     

Life Course Status and Exchanges of Support Between Young Adults and Parents

The authors investigated intergenerational support exchanges in relation to young adults' life course status. In a sample of 2,022 young adults (ages 18–34 years) in The Netherlands, single young adults reported receiving more advice from parents than married young adults, and those with children of their own received more practical support. Married young adults and young adults with children provided less support to parents than, respectively, single young adults and young adults without children. Congruent with the life course perspective, the authors' findings suggest that the intergenerational support network is both durable and flexible, responding to the resources and needs associated with an individual's life course status.     

Short‐Term Reciprocity in Late Parent‐Child Relationships

Long‐term concepts of parent‐child reciprocity assume that the amount of support given and received is only balanced in a generalized fashion over the life course. We argue that reciprocity in parent‐child relationships also operates in the short term. Our analysis of short‐term reciprocity focuses on concurrent exchange in its main upward and downward currencies, time and money. Fixed‐effects models with data from SHARE (N = 8,816 dyads) revealed that within a family, parents gave financial transfers to those children who supported them with time transfers of help and care. Reciprocal patterns emerged most clearly if parents were highly dependent, received intense support, and had sufficient financial opportunities to reciprocate. We conclude that short‐term reciprocity eases the burden of late parent‐child relationships.     

Parents' Coresidence With Adult Children: Can Immigration Explain Racial and Ethnic Variation?

There is considerable racial and ethnic variation in the prevalence of intergenerational coresidence in the United States. Using data from the Current Population Surveys, we demonstrate that much of this is attributable to recent immigration and the relative economic position of immigrant parents. Multinomial logistic regression results reveal that recent immigrant parents, particularly Asian and Central and South American immigrant parents, are more likely to live in households in which their adult children provide most of the household income. The likelihood of living in this “dependent” role decreases with duration of residence in the United States. The likelihood of living in an intergenerational household in which the parent provides the majority of the household income is not as tied to nativity.     

Exploring Nonnormative Coresidence in Urban China: Living With Wives’ Parents

We model histories between two cohorts of urban Chinese couples (N = 1,191) of a rarely studied living arrangement—coresidence with the wife's parents—using a dynamic life history analysis in contrast to previous cross‐sectional studies of coresidence. We examine patterns of entry into and exit from coresidence with the wife's parents, comparing the predictive power of modernization theory to the effect of demographic change and the resources and needs of each generation. Given China's well‐known patrilineal family system, we find a surprisingly high number of couples ever residing nonnormatively, and significant differences between cohorts in what determines the pattern of coresidence. Resources and needs that reflect conscious choices to coreside most strongly influence nonnormative coresidence. Its importance may increase as the children of the One‐Child Family Policy grow up and marry.     

What Makes Someone Family? Adult Children’s Perceptions of Current and Former Stepparents

This study examined the extent to which adult children perceived current and former, legal or cohabiting, partners of biological parents as family members and parents and determined what factors were associated with these perceptions. Data come from 443 adult children participating in the 1997 wave of the Longitudinal Study of Generations. Hypotheses were developed on the basis of a synthesis of the solidarity‐conflict model and the life course perspective. Results revealed diversity in adult children’s perceptions of family membership and parentage and support for the theoretical perspectives. Structural, associational, and normative solidarity were all associated with adult children’s perceptions of current and former stepparents as family members and parents. Substantive and theoretical implications are discussed.     

“I'll Give You the World”: Socioeconomic Differences in Parental Support of Adult Children

Research has shown that parents with higher socioeconomic status provide more resources to their children during childhood and adolescence. The authors asked whether similar effects associated with parental socioeconomic position are extended to adult children. Middle‐aged parents (N = 633) from the Family Exchanges Study reported support they provided to their grown children and coresidence with grown children (N = 1,384). Parents with higher income provided more emotional and material support to the average children. Grown children of parents with less education were more likely to coreside with them. Parental resources (e.g., being married) and demands (e.g., family size) explained these patterns. Of interest is that lower income parents provided more total support to all children (except total financial support). Lower income families may experience a double jeopardy; each grown child receives less support on average, but parents exert greater efforts providing more total support to all their children.     

When the Kids Live at Home: Coresidence,Parental Assets,and Economic Insecurity

This study uses National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort data from 1994 through 2012 (N = 16,108 person‐years, 4,671 individuals) to investigate how coresidence with adult children influences asset levels among parents. It applies hybrid mixed effects regression models that partition between‐ and within‐person variation to estimate parental savings and financial assets over time and across different households. The results suggest that coresidence with adult children led to decreases in parental assets and savings. In the years in which their children lived at home, parents held 24% less in financial assets and 23% less in savings when compared with the years when adult children were not present. By expanding previous research that shows a relationship between increasing economic insecurity, limited wealth, and the rise in coresidence among young adults, this study also offers broader implications for the interconnectivity of financial hardship across generations.     

Tradition and Change in Vietnamese Family Structure in the Red River Delta

One of the key features of Vietnamese family organization is patrilocality—the preference of married couples to coreside with the husband's parents. With data drawn from a retrospective survey of persons in 1,855 households in the largest province in the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam, we found that more than 75% of married respondents reported having lived with the grooms' family after marriage. The proportion of newly married couples that follow the patrilocal custom appears to have increased in recent decades, although the average duration of coresidence has declined. Some aspects of modernization, especially nonagricultural occupations and later age at marriage, contribute to a lower incidence of intergenerational coresidence, but the underlying cultural preference to live with the grooms' parents immediately after marriage appears to have become stronger in Vietnam. In contrast to some features of traditional family life that conflict with modernity, intergenerational coresidence can be quite functional in modernizing societies.     

Extending the Intergenerational Stake Hypothesis: Evidence of an Intra‐individual Stake and Implications for Well‐being

The intergenerational stake hypothesis suggests that parents are more invested in their children and experience better quality parent–child ties than do their children. In this study the authors examined variation in reports of relationship quality regarding parents and children intra‐individually (do people report better quality ties with their children than with their parents?) and whether within‐person variations have implications for well‐being. Participants age 40–60 (N = 633) reported on their relationship quality (importance, positive quality, and negative quality) with their parents and adult children. Individuals reported their relationships with children were more important and more negative than relationships with parents. Individuals with feelings that were in the opposite direction of the intergenerational stake hypothesis (i.e., greater investment in parents than children) reported poorer well‐being. The findings provide support for the intergenerational stake hypothesis with regard to within‐person variations in investment and show that negative relationship quality may coincide with greater feelings of investment.     

Race/Ethnicity,Attitudes, and Living With Parents During Young Adulthood

Non‐White young adults are more likely to live with their parents throughout their 20s, more likely to return home after going away to college, and less likely to leave again after returning. Scholars have speculated that subcultural differences in attitudes toward marriage and family play a key role in generating racial/ethnic differences in rates of coresidence with parents among young adults. Data from the National Education Longitudinal Survey of 1988 (N = 11,228) were analyzed in order to test this hypothesis. Attitudes toward marriage and family were significantly associated with coresidence, especially among young men, but did not substantially account for racial/ethnic differences in living arrangements. Among young non‐White women and young Black men, higher rates of coresidence were related to differences from Whites in socioeconomic or marital status (and sometimes both) that were largely independent of differences in attitudes toward marriage and family.