Coresidence of Adult Children with Parents from 1960 to 1990: is the Propensity to Live at Home Really Increasing?

Abstract

This article uses the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) to examine how shifts in marital status have influenced the likelihood of parental/adult-child coresidence from 1960 to 1990. Results indicate that the propensity to live with parents would have decreased between 1960 and 1990 if there had not been a change in the marital status of these young adults. While it is true that more people aged nineteen to thirty were living with their parents in 1990 compared to 1960, this was because more were formerly married or never married, and these groups are much more likely to live with their parents than married individuals. The results indicate that among the formerly married and never married, the propensity to live with parents actually declined.