Under Different Roofs? Coresidence with Adult Children and Parents’ Mental Health across Race and Ethnicity in the U.S. from 1998-2018

Jennifer Caputo , University of Chicago
Kathleen A. Cagney, University of Chicago

Many parents in the U.S. share a household with an adult child at some point during later life for one reason or another. However, the contexts surrounding coresidence between parents and adult children have evolved over time and vary across families’ racial/ethnic backgrounds in ways that may have implications for older adults’ mental health. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study and linear growth models, this paper investigates the determinants and mental health correlates of coresidence between parents age 50+ and their adult children from 1998-2018 with attention to differences by race and ethnicity. Findings show that although coresidence with adult children increased among all groups during this period, it was stably higher among Black and Hispanic than White parents. Several predictors of parent-adult child coresidence and characteristics of coresidential relationships varied by race/ethnicity. For example, income was inversely related to coresidence with an adult child for White parents, while the association was positive for Black peers. Also, coresidential adult children were more likely to help with household finances or functional limitations among Black and Hispanic than White respondents. Living with an adult child predicted higher depressive symptom scores among White parents only. These findings underscore that coresidence between parents and their adult children has consistently taken different forms for White, Black, and Hispanic families. Further, while these coresidential arrangements are associated with some advantages among racial/ethnic minority adults, among White parents they predict health and socioeconomic disadvantages.

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 Presented in Session 76. Families, health, and healthcare