Coresidence Beliefs in American Society. 1973 to 1991

This article examines trends in beliefs about desirability of coresidence between adult children and their parents in U.S. between 1973 and 1991. Despite some clear historic tendencies toward independent living arrangements in population as a whole, data presented from General Social Surveys actually show a significant toward acceptability of coresidence. The decomposition of these trends into intra- and intercohort patterns reveals important intercohort differences. A multivariate analysis, including variables measuring sociodemographic experiences, indicates that about 20% of effects of birth year can be accounted for by these factors, particularly greater kinship contact reported by younger cohorts. The article concludes with a discussion of meaning of these trends. Key Words: cohorts, coresidence beliefs, General Social Surveys, generations, intergenerational relations, living arrangements. Coresidence with extended kin, while often thought to be more prevalent in early America, is a form of household living that is virtually extinct in contemporary society. There is debate about nature of long-term historical patterns in extended kinship coresidence in North America; however, post-World War II patterns in United States indicate a definite rise in primary individual, Census Bureau's term for persons who live alone (e.g., Ruggles, 1987). Increasingly, people are achieving privacy and independence in living arrangements at expense of household-based extended kinship relations and intergenerational responsibilities (Goldscheider Kobrin, 1976a, 1976b; Michael, Fuchs, Santi, 1988). To some extent, similar changes have occurred in Western Europe (e.g., Murphy van Solinge, 1993). At same time, however, several observers have noted a more recent reversal of trend, with increasing numbers of young adults apparently coresiding with their parents. Data for U.S. indicate that there has been virtually no decline in age of leaving parental home, and those who leave are now more likely to return (Buck Glick Heer, Hodge, & Felson, 1985). The General Social Surveys (GSS) data reported here show a systematic increase in support for intergenerational coresidence, a result that is somewhat surprising given trends toward autonomous living. Indeed, remarking on GSS data through 1986, Glenn (1987) noted that this is the only distinctly profamilistic he has discovered in all sample survey data he has examined. But, he commented that trend is of uncertain importance because it is not at all certain that persons with elderly parents became more willing, on average, to take their parents into their homes or that parents became more willing to live with their offspring (pp. 119-120). In following analysis, I decompose these trends into two components: cohort turnover and intracohort change. Then, while controlling for several other factors known to be predictive of intergenerational relations, I further analyze contributions of these components. While ambiguity in GSS question, which Glenn noted, still remains, intent of this analysis is to bring clarity to nature of within context of a broader reconnaissance of developing literature on this topic. TRENDS IN RESIDENTIAL NORMS There are several indications of rather substantial changes in residential norms in U.S. over past century. For example, proportion of persons classified as primary individuals by U.S. Bureau of Census has systematically increased (Ruggles, 1988). The Current Population Reports show that fewer than 8% of U.S. households contained persons living alone in 1940s, whereas across recent decades this figure has gradually risen, and in early 1990s it had reached 25% (U. …