Effects of Married Child and Parent Characteristics on Intergenerational Residential Proximity

Intergenerational relationships of Korean older adults and implications for their health and well-being: Co-residence and grandchild care

“…Older parents with few socioeconomic resources are more likely to live with their adult children who can best provide housing and caregiving for their parents (i.e., adult children with the most resources) than with children with fewer resources (Hank, 2007;Smit, Van Gaalen, & Mulder., 2010;White, Klein., & Martin., 2015). Parents are more likely to co-reside with their children if they are older, male, widowed or divorced, and had higher fertility (Choi, 2016;Choi & Nam, 2016;Efron & Liu, 2004;Hank, 2007). In contrast, adult children who have lower socioeconomic resources may need help from their parents (Efron & Liu, 2004;White, Klein, & Martin, 2015).…”

“…In contrast, adult children who have lower socioeconomic resources may need help from their parents (Efron & Liu, 2004;White, Klein, & Martin, 2015). Adult children were more likely to co-reside with older parents if they were younger (Smits, Van Gaalen, & Mulder, 2010), had a lower education level (Choi & Nam, 2016), were unemployed (Efron & Liu, 2004;Isengard & Szydlik, 2012), and unmarried (Schmertmann et al, 2000). Therefore, this study uses socioeconomic and other characteristics of parents and children as control variables to estimate the net effect of the oldest son status net of the influence of these socioeconomic characteristics on co-residence.…”

“…All of these measures were reported by the KLoSA respondents (i.e., the child of the older adult). These factors were considered because previous studies have identified them as significant predictors of intergenerational co-residence (Chen, 2005;Choi & Nam, 2016;2004Han & Yoon, 2004;Isengard & Szydlik, 2012;Lin et al, 2003;Smit et al, 2010). By including the control variables that may also affect parentchild co-residence, I am able to estimate the independent association of the oldest son status with co-residence with parents net of these other potential predictor variables.…”

“…The first empirical study investigated the changes in the Korean kinship structure by cohort and time period using multiple group analysis. The results showed that parent-child coresidence is mainly determined by oldest son status (Choi, 2016;Choi & Nam, 2016). Whether or not the individual was the oldest son was found to be a significant predictor of the likelihood of parent-child co-residence (odds ratio for the KWALD cohort = 1.11-1.13, p < .01; odds ratio for the KBB cohort = 1.14-1.19, p < .001), after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics of parents and children.…”

“…Structural family solidarity is defined as the geographical proximity between parents and children which influences the opportunity for intergenerational interactions (Bengtson, 2001). Parent-child co-residence is linked to close relationships (Bucx, Van Well, Knijin, & Hagendorn, 2008), frequent care exchanges (Bengtson, 2001;Choi & Nam, 2016), and enhanced family well-being (van der Pers, Nulder, & Steverink, 2015). Because parent-child co-residence has implications for the relationships and well-being of both parents and children, understanding the predictors of coresidence is important.…”