Co-residence beliefs 1973-2018: Older adults feel differently than younger adults

This brief study examines support for co-residence (i.e. aging parents living with their adult children), and how age predicts support for this belief considering the rapidly aging U.S. population.

Co-residence, a form of intergenerational transfer between family members, can help facilitate care for aging parents as well as help older adults age in the community. Support for this type of co-residence was on the rise in the 1970s and 1980s.

Support for co-residence of older adults living with their adult children is estimated using 36,843 responses from the U.S. General Social Survey from 1973 to 2018. Descriptive analyses, logistic regression, and decomposition analyzes are used to test explanatory factors in trends, focusing on differences for older (age 65 and older) vs. younger (under 65) respondents.

Older adults are less supportive than younger adults of co-residence even as support has generally increased across time. Decomposition results show that a little over half of the difference between younger and older adults is explained by cohort replacement, with two-fifths of the difference unexplained by social or demographic factors.

Findings suggest that although cohort replacement has contributed to an attitude shift over time, important age differences in attitudes remain. Older adults are less supportive of co-residence than younger adults.