Family power, intergenerational relationships and co-residence: an analysis of intergenerational living arrangements in China

Abstract This study examines how older adults’ support needs influence intergenerational co-residence through two mediating mechanisms: family power and intergenerational solidarity. Drawing on four waves (2005–2014) of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS), structural equation modelling was used on the pooled data to test the mediation model, while cross-lagged panel models examined the dynamic pathways over time. Results show that support needs increase the overall likelihood of co-residence yet exert a small negative direct effect, indicating a suppressor mediation pattern. Support needs significantly reduce older adults’ family power and modestly enhance intergenerational relationships; in turn, lower family power and stronger ties both promote co-residence. The mediating effect of family power is substantially larger and more stable over time, whereas that of intergenerational solidarity is weaker and context-dependent. These results refine the classical power–bargaining model by revealing a contextual reversal in which weaker parental authority, rather than stronger control, increases the feasibility of co-residence, and extend intergenerational solidarity theory by showing that relational cohesion functions as a conditional mechanism shaping living arrangements.