Who Is Supporting Whom? Racial and Ethnic Differences in Intergenerational Coresidence and Financial Flows within Older Coresidential Households

Joan R. Kahn, University of Maryland
Fran Goldscheider, University of Maryland and Brown University
Javier Garcia-Manglano, University of Oxford

This paper uses Census and ACS data to examine race-ethnic differences and changes in the residential and financial independence of older Americans during the period 1990-2010. Recent research has shown that compared with the growing financial neediness of younger adults, older adults have become increasingly independent over time, and have often been called upon to continue supporting their children well into adulthood. Less clear is whether older black and Hispanic adults have seen the same increase in residential and financial independence over time as older whites. Specifically, we examine racial and ethnic differences in 1) the likelihood that older adults (ages 50+) share housing with adult children; 2) the role of financial resources of both generations in explaining coresidence decisions over time; and 3) the likelihood that within coresidential households, older adults will be the primary provider (or receiver) of financial support to (or from) their adult children.