Children's Patterns of Residence in Doubled-up Households

Hope Harvey , Cornell University
Rachel Dunifon, Cornell University
Natasha Pilkauskas, University of Michigan

About one-fifth of children in the U.S. live in shared, or “doubled-up” households, which include additional adults beyond their parent(s) and parent’s romantic partner. Previous research suggests that these arrangements are often unstable, but we know little about children’s patterns of residence in these households or how these patterns may vary across different types of doubled-up households. Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, which interviews households in four-month intervals, we examine the stability and transitions of children who double up. Our analyses show that children’s experiences of doubling up vary substantially based on their household composition and whether their parent(s) is the lease/mortgage holder of the home. This project contributes to the study of children’s living arrangements and improves our understanding of the dynamics of this common private housing safety net.

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 Presented in Session 131. Family Complexity and Diversity