Long‐term trends in intergenerational proximity: Evidence from a grandchild design

Abstract

Competing claims exist about how the geographic distance between parents and their adult children has changed historically. A classic modernisation hypothesis is that people currently live further away from their parents than in the past. Others have argued for stability and the remaining importance of local family ties, in spite of a long‐term decline in co‐residence of adult children and parents. The current paper uses a novel design that relies on reports by grandchildren to study long‐term changes in intergenerational proximity in the Netherlands. The analyses show that there has been a clear and continuous decline in intergenerational proximity between the 1940s and the 1990s. Mediation analyses show that educational expansion and urbanisation are the main reasons why proximity declined. No evidence is found for the role of secularisation and increasing international migration. Proximity to parents declined somewhat more strongly for women than for men.

Ethnoracial disparities in intergenerational coresidence among Canadian millennial

“…Our results suggest that parental expectations about career success of their children (economic reason) have thus far trumped parental expectations of a family-oriented attitude from their children (cultural reason). The findings are also compatible with a greater acculturation among East-Asian diaspora in Canada, given their lower intergenerational coresidence and implied proximity than other ethnoracial minorities (Kalmijn, 2021;Tao et al, 2018).…”

“…This greater mobility implies a lower intergenerational proximity. The literature suggests that intergenerational proximity and coresidence are affected by both cultural norms on family solidarity and economic factors motivating internal migration (Choi et al, 2020;Gillespie & Lei, 2021;Kalmijn, 2021;Mulder, 2007;Van der Pers & Mulder, 2013). While an expectation of coresidence with parents among East Asians can be put forth for purely cultural reasons, the observed patterns point to the greater influence of economic factors.…”

“…In a sense, intergenerational coresidence is a version of intergenerational proximity (Gillespie & Lei, 2021; Kalmijn, 2021). The geographic proximity between parents and adult children enhances opportunities for interaction, exchange of support and stronger experience of kinship relations (Bengtson, 2001; Chudnovskaya & Kolk, 2017; Michielin et al, 2008; Mulder, 2007).…”

“…The modernization hypothesis surmises that with educational expansion, upward mobility, urbanization, improved transportation, new communication technologies, individualization and secularization, intergenerational proximity, inclusive of coresidence, must decrease (Choi et al, 2020; Kalmijn, 2021). Consistently, in the 21st century, the transition to adulthood and its associated milestones, such as marriage, childbearing and homeownership, have happened at increasingly older ages (Gillespie & Lei, 2021; Kye & Choi, 2021; Maroto, 2017, 2019; Mazurik et al, 2020).…”

“…But, little is known about how intergenerational coresidence varies among newer ethnic groups of the Canadian landscape. This knowledge is important for a deeper understanding of differences in acculturation pace among these groups (Kalmijn, 2021; Tao et al, 2018), as well as future labour, housing, and healthcare demand and supply across Canada.…”