An Examination of Extended Family Residence Sharing Predispositions in the United States

ABSTRACT

This study examined attitudes toward parents and their grown children sharing common households, as an indicator of extended family living arrangement, based on nine national surveys conducted from 1973 through 1989. Using probability sampling procedures, samples were drawn from a population of persons over the age of 18 years and residing in non-institutional settings in the United States. The results indicated that approval of this living arrangement increased over 19 percent between 1973 and 1984. It was also found that respondents who were younger, Blacks, Catholics, and those who had a greater degree of interaction with their parents or siblings had the highest approval of parents sharing homes with their adult children. Socioeconomic factors and religiosity-measured by the frequency of attendance in religious services-had no influence on such attitudes. Directions for future research and policy implications are discussed.