The Composition of Multigenerational Households that Include Elders

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Abstract
Using a new procedure to recode data from the 1980 U.S. census, the relationships within multigenerational households are examined from the perspective of the elder. Differences in the household composition of two-generation and three-or-more generation households by age are examined. Among older respondents, fewer elders lived with spouses, parents or parents-in-law, or siblings or siblings-in-law. In contrast, as age increased, a higher percentage of elders lived with children, grand children, or other kin. The pattern of coresidence with adult children varied by type of household. In two-generation households, more elders lived with sons than with daughters; in three-or-more generation households, a higher proportion of elders lived with daughters than with sons. Across relationships with the previous generation (parents), the collateral generation (siblings), and subsequent generations (children), more elders resided with blood relatives than with in-laws.