Cultural Preferences or Financial Constraints? Understanding Racial and Ethnic Differences in Family Attitudes and Parental Coresidence in Young Adulthood

Abstract

Establishing an independent household is a key marker of adulthood. Yet, the proportion of young adults who remain in the natal home has increased, with large variations across racial and ethnic groups. We test the role of cultural preferences versus financial constraints in accounting for variation in coresidence by examining young adults’ and parents’ family attitudes in conjunction with measures of financial resources. Using longitudinal data, we explore parents’ and children’s family attitudes when youth are in high school and their relationship to youths’ coresidence behavior a decade later. Though attitudes about family vary by race and ethnicity, these attitudes shape young adult living arrangements in White families and are not just influential among Latinx and Asian families. This highlights the relevance of parents’ views for the transition to adulthood and refocuses attention on the ways that financial constraints in young adulthood drive racial and ethnic differences in living arrangements.