Three-generation households in a Central- and Eastern European Country. The Hungarian Case.

Judit Monostori , Hungarian Demographic Research Institute

In most European countries, the proportion of three-generation households (TGH) is on a steadily declining trend in the long run. There are several reasons for this: the loss of the role of household as an economic unit, the widening of individual earnings, the extent of pension scheme, change in attitudes and some fundamental structural changes. Although the differences between countries are significant and the proportion of TGHs is particularly high in some Eastern European countries. In Hungary, 15% of children under the age of 18 lived in such a household. This study examines how the proportion of TGHs changed between 1980 and 2016, and what factors influenced this. Research finds that the decline in proportion of families with children and the shift in educational attainment of population have contributed significantly to the decline in TGH. Research has also shown that economic crises can also have an impact on the prevalence of TGHs, since during the post-1990 economic crisis, the proportion of TGHs among the lower social strata increased significantly. Previous research has found that the TGHs is closely linked to demographic life events and a significant proportion of TGHs last only a short time in an individual’s life cycle. Using data from Hungarian GGS the study investigates how the share, transition patterns of TGHs vary by age of children, mother’s relationship status and education attainment of parents. We found that the proportion of TGHs is significantly higher among parents with very young children and single-parent families and also among low-educated parents.

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 Presented in Session 17. Union formation and dissolution