Effects of Married Child and Parent Characteristics on Intergenerational Residential Proximity

기혼자녀와 부모의 특성이 세대 간 거주근접성에 미치는 영향

Objective: This study examined correlates of residential proximity between parents and non-coresident married children. A majority of existing studies on intergenerational living arrangement has focused on exploring factors that are associated with intergenerational coresidence only, despite an increasing number of parents and children who do not live together but close by. Because residential proximity facilitates frequent contacts and support exchanges between the two generations, it is important to understand its correlates. Method: The data were drawn from first wave of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA, 2006), a nationally representative sample of adults 45 years or older and their spouses. The analytic sample consisted of 3,950 parents with 10,946 non-coresident married children. Both regression with robust standard errors and sibling fixed effects regression models were estimated using the reg and xtreg procedures in STATA. Results: Younger, less depressed, and more physically impaired parents lived closer to at least one of their married children (within a 30-minute distance by public transportation). Fathers (compared to mothers), parents living in cities (compared to those living in rural areas), parents with at least one co-resident child or fewer numbers of married children tended to have at least one married child living nearby. With regard to child characteristics, married children who were less educated, homeowners, and had more children lived closer to their parents. Also, sons (compared to daughters) lived in closer distance to their parents. Conclusion: Overall, findings suggest that intergenerational residential proximity may primarily be motivated by the childcare needs of married children or parents' needs for assistance with functional impairment. Also, the traditional patrilineal norms of intergenerational support may still be a critical factor in residential decisions as observed in the difference between married sons and daughters in proximity to their parents.