Linking Lives in Ethnically Diverse Families: The Interconnectedness of Home Leaving and Retirement Transitions

Abstract

Drawing from a sociocultural life course perspective, this study examines the linkages between two age-related family transitions: young adult children leaving home and parental retirement. A sample of 580 ethnically diverse parents aged 50+ with at least one adult child aged 19–35 living in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, was used in this study based on four cultural groups: British–, Chinese–, Persian/Iranian–, or South Asian–Canadian. Separate survival analyses are used to predict the timing of, and associations between children’s leaving home and parents’ retirement. Later timing of adult children’s leaving home is associated with delays in retirement of parents and is influenced by a number of predictors. Main and interaction effects were supported for ethnicity, where belonging to the Persian/Iranian ethnic group (compared to British) delays home leaving, and belonging to Persian/Iranian and South Asian ethnic groups (compared to British) delays retirement timing.

Sign here: Coresidence contracts for parents and young adults who live together

“…As Elder et al (2003) noted, the lives of young adults and their parents are intertwined as the former take on adult roles and the latter navigate transitions of aging. Whereas young adults' obligations to attend school, secure employment, save money, or move out were explicitly identified, few contracts directly addressed the linked transitions of parents and how they are impacted by the financial and opportunity costs of coresidence (e.g., retirement or residential downsizing; Mitchell et al, 2021). Rather, ideas about linked developmental outcomes were implicit in these documents, highlighting expectations of responsibility, self-sufficiency, and independence among young adults and freedom from the burden of dependents among parents.…”

A Study of Social Isolation, Multimorbidity and Multiple Role Demands Among Middle-Age Adults Based on the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

“…Therefore, from the middle to older age period, parents begin to experience the transition from empty nest to family dissolution. Indeed, the empty nest is a widely studied topic among the middle to old age population, and the permanent departure of children has a fundamental impact on family transitions and the daily lives of parents (Mitchell, 2019;Mitchell & Lovegreen, 2009;Mitchell et al, 2020).…”

Socioeconomic differences in parental financial support, coresidence, and advice: A portrait of undergraduate students in the Canadian Prairies

“…Besides providing cash or covering expenses, parents may support young adult children by offering free or discounted accommodation in their home-a situation commonly referred to as 'coresidence' or 'parental coresidence' in family sociology and related fields (cf., Mazurik et al, 2020;Mitchell et al, 2021). This living arrangement is often motivated by young adults' pursuit of financial independence, higher education, career opportunities, home ownership, or other goals (Roberts et al, 2016;White, 2002;Worth & Tomaszczyk, 2017).…”