Under Whose Roof? Understanding the Living Arrangements of Children in Doubled-Up Households

Abstract

A growing literature in family demography examines children's residence in doubled-up (shared) households with extended family members and nonkin. This research has largely overlooked the role of doubling up as a housing strategy, with “hosts” (householders) providing housing support for “guests” living in their home. Yet, understanding children's experiences in doubled-up households requires attention to host/guest status. Using the American Community Survey and Survey of Income and Program Participation, we identify the prevalence of children doubling up as hosts and guests in different household compositions (multigenerational, extended family, nonkin), show how this varies by demographic characteristics, and examine children's patterns of residence across these household types. We find large variation by demographic characteristics. More disadvantaged children have higher rates of doubling up as guests than hosts, whereas more advantaged children have higher rates of doubling up as hosts than guests. Additionally, compared with hosts, guests more often use doubling up as a longer-term strategy; a greater share of guests live consistently doubled up over a three-year period, but those who do transition between household types experience more transitions on average than do hosts. Our findings show the importance of attending to both housing status and household composition when studying children living in doubled-up households.

Genetic variations affecting ACE2 protein stability in minority populations

“…In particular, these populations are also at higher risk of chronic health problems aggravating the clinical course of COVID-19, including diabetes, heart disease and obesity ( 6 , 40 ). Here, we concentrated on genetic variants that affect the African/Latino American ethnicities, also facing the greatest socioeconomic and racial disparities ( 41 ). Structural studies have reported numerous genetic variations affecting the stability of the ACE2 - SARS-CoV-2-S complex ( 42 ).…”

Multigenerational living and children’s risk of living in unaffordable housing: differences by ethnicity and parents’ marital status

“…A housing affordability crisis may threaten people's ability to establish and/or maintain independent households (Choi 2003;Goldscheider and Goldscheider 1999;Keene and Batson 2010). When they learn that a family member is having difficulty paying for adequate and suitable housing, family members may "double up" as a way to offer housing assistance to the member in need or pool resources to cover the rent or mortgage (Cross 2018;Harvey, Dunifon, and Pilkauskas 2021;Li and Wu 2019;Pilkauskas 2012). How multigenerational living shapes children's odds of living in unaffordable housing will largely depend on the function of multigenerational households (Harvey et al 2021).…”

“…When they learn that a family member is having difficulty paying for adequate and suitable housing, family members may "double up" as a way to offer housing assistance to the member in need or pool resources to cover the rent or mortgage (Cross 2018;Harvey, Dunifon, and Pilkauskas 2021;Li and Wu 2019;Pilkauskas 2012). How multigenerational living shapes children's odds of living in unaffordable housing will largely depend on the function of multigenerational households (Harvey et al 2021). If multigenerational co-residence serves as a vehicle to support children and their parents or a system of interdependence to offer mutual support to all parties, multigenerational living will be associated with lower odds of living in unaffordable housing.…”

“…Most of our understanding of the correlates of multigenerational households comes from prior work examining living arrangements in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom (Cross 2018;Harvey et al 2021;Pilkauskas 2012;Pilkauskas and Martinson 2014).…”

Living with children and food insecurity in seniors

“…Much of the literature on co‐residence has focused on the increasing propensity of children to live with grandparents or older adults (for example, Harvey et al, 2021; Pilkauskas et al, 2020; Pilkauskas & Cross, 2018). Though less pronounced than changes in child living arrangements, there have also been changes in the residential patterns of seniors.…”