Chile was severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The implementation of social distancing measures strongly affected the Chilean economy: the unemployment rate grew rapidly as well as the proportion of population temporarily excluded from the labour force. This article analyses the strategies deployed by Chilean households to cope with the impact of the pandemic at the intersection with household structure and its socio-economics characteristics. Secondary data analysis from the Encuesta Social COVID-19 (COVID-19 Social Survey), carried out by the Chilean Ministry for Social Development and Families, were used to analyse the income-generating and expenditure-minimising strategies adopted by households during the early months (March to July of 2020) of the pandemic. The results show that 60.3% of households experienced a drop in family income, 70.3% indicated that they had to use at least one income-generating strategy, and 76.6% at least one expenditure-minimising strategy during the early months of the pandemic. Indebtedness and decapitalisation characterised most of the coping strategies adopted by households. While living in multigenerational households does not protect family members from declining economic well-being, older people living in one- and two-generation households were found to be least affected economically during the crisis. They were also less likely to resort to these coping strategies, insofar as their income was mainly secured from pensions. Although female-headed households did not show a greater reduction in income than male-headed households, they were more likely to adopt income-generating strategies. This article draws attention to the possible effects of decapitalisation and indebtedness on the long-term economic well-being of households with different structures, and the resulting inequalities in their capacity to recover from the effects of the pandemic. The findings suggest that having a source of family income that is not dependent on labour market flows is crucial in times of crises.
Objective
This study examines long‐term trajectories of intergenerational coresidence (IC) among a cohort of individuals aged 65 and 75 in Chile, focusing on their diversity, prevalence, internal dynamism, and sociodemographic characteristics.
Background
IC is comparatively high in Latin America and is related to both family norms and social vulnerabilities. However, empirical evidence on this topic comes mostly from cross‐sectional studies using aggregated population data, which neglect the inherently dynamic nature of coresidential arrangements across the life course.
Method
We use representative life‐history data in Santiago, Chile (N = 802), sequence analysis to reconstruct long‐term trajectories, and bivariate analysis to examine their associations with sociodemographic factors.
Results
Our findings show that, first, IC in Chile may be more prevalent and diverse than suggested in previous cross‐sectional studies. Second, our findings indicate patterns of long‐term IC and stable conjugal cohabitation are compatible. Third, the results shed new light on the association of IC with particular sociodemographic groups.
Conclusion
This study analyzed patterns of living arrangements among family members based both on intergenerational and conjugal cohabitation and their dynamic character throughout the life course. Our results challenge interpretations of contemporary living arrangements among family members at an international level.
Implications
This study shows that IC in Chile has been largely underrepresented, both in magnitude and heterogeneity. This finding informs public policies about the reality of family configurations that require specific care, housing, and financial support.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.