Long‐term trajectories of intergenerational coresidence: Evidence of living arrangements patterns in Chile

• Published date: 01 July 2023
• Author: Ignacio Cabib,Consuelo Araos,Julieta Palma,Martina Yopo Díaz
• Date: 01 July 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12723

RESEARCH

Long-term trajectories of intergenerational

coresidence: Evidence of living arrangements

patterns in Chile

Ignacio Cabib

1,2,3

| Consuelo Araos

1

| Julieta Palma

4

|

Martina Yopo Díaz

5

1

Instituto de Sociología, Pontificia Universidad

Cat

olica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

2

Departamento de Salud Pública, Pontificia

Universidad Cat

olica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

3

Centro UC Estudios de Vejez y

Envejecimiento, Pontificia Universidad

Cat

olica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

4

Departamento de Sociología, Universidad

Alberto Hurtado, Santiago, Chile

5

Escuela de Sociología, Universidad Diego

Portales, Santiago, Chile

Correspondence

Ignacio Cabib, Instituto de Sociología &

Departamento de Salud Pública, Pontificia

Universidad Cat

olica de Chile, Avenida

Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Casilla 306, Correo

22, Macul, Santiago, Chile.

Email: i.maderocabib@uc.cl

Funding information

This work was supported by Agencia Nacional

de Investigaci

on y Desarrollo (ANID),

through the following grants: ANID/

FONDECYT/REGULAR/N1220080,

ANID/FONDAP/N15130009, ANID/

ANILLOS/PIA/NSOC180033, ANID/PAI/

N77200004, ANID

Abstract

Objective: This study examines long-term trajectories of

intergenerational coresidence (IC) among a cohort of individ-

uals aged 65 and 75 in Chile, focusing on their diversity,

prevalence, internal dynamism, and sociodemographic

characteristics.

Background: IC is comparatively high in Latin America

and is related to both family norms and social vulnerabil-

ities. However, empirical evidence on this topic comes

mostly from cross-sectional studies using aggregated popu-

lation data, which neglect the inherently dynamic nature

of coresidential arrangements across the life course.

Method: We use representative life-history data in Santi-

ago, Chile (N=802), sequence analysis to reconstruct

long-term trajectories, and bivariate analysis to examine

their associations with sociodemographic factors.

Results: Our findings show that, first, IC in Chile may be

more prevalent and diverse than suggested in previous

cross-sectional studies. Second, our findings indicate pat-

terns of long-term IC and stable conjugal cohabitation are

compatible. Third, the results shed new light on the associ-

ation of IC with particular sociodemographic groups.

Conclusion: This study analyzed patterns of living arrange-

ments among family members based both on inter-

generational and conjugal cohabitation and their dynamic

character throughout the life course. Our results challenge

interpretations of contemporary living arrangements among

family members at an international level.

Author noteIgnacio Cabib ORCID: 0000-0002-9918-8562Consuelo Araos ORCID: 0000-0002-7035-2330Julieta Palma ORCID: 0000-

0003-2443-3858Martina Yopo Díaz ORCID: 0000-0002-5886-8211

Received: 13 August 2021 Revised: 11 January 2022 Accepted: 26 March 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12723

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

838 Family Relations. 2023;72:838–856.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare

Implications: This study shows that IC in Chile has been

largely underrepresented, both in magnitude and heteroge-

neity. This finding informs public policies about the reality

of family configurations that require specific care, housing,

and financial support.

KEYWORDS

Chile, conjugal bonds, coresidence, intergenerational bonds, life course

analysis, multigenerational households

Latin America is characterized by a high prevalence of intergenerational coresidence (IC) of

parents and adult children (Palma, 2021). This residential pattern varies between countries in

the region, with higher prevalence of IC in Central America and the Caribbean and lower prev-

alence in the Southern Cone (Palma, 2021; Sarkisian et al., 2006). Data show that in 2017, the

prevalence of multigenerational households in the region ranged from 13.6% of all urban house-

holds in Uruguay up to 32.5% in Honduras (Comisi

on Econ

omica para América Latina y el

Caribe, 2017). The high prevalence of IC among Latin American families is the outcome not

only of economic deprivation, insufficient income, and limited welfare state provisions, but also

of strong cultural norms regarding care for family members (Reyes, 2018).

Despite its high prevalence, however, the dynamics of IC in Latin American countries

remain largely unexplored, and authors have relied mainly on cross-sectional data

(de Vos, 1987,2012;Esteveetal.,2012;Palma,2021;Palma&Scott,2020; Sarkisian

et al., 2006; Spijker & Esteve, 2011). Although recent studies conducted in developed coun-

tries have made important contributions to understanding the long-term dynamics of IC

(Aëby et al., 2019;Gauthier&Viry,2019;Ramos,2019; Widmer & Gauthier, 2013), to our

knowledge, there are no empirical studies addressing the different types of IC trajectories

throughout individuals’life course.

Drawing on a population-representative and retrospective life history data, in this study, we

aimed to fill these research gaps by examining trajectories of IC across adulthood and old age

among a cohort of older individuals in Chile, focusing on four dimensions of these trajectories:

diversity, prevalence, internal dynamism, and sociodemographic characteristics.

Chile is an interesting case of study in the Latin American context—among other reasons,

because of its relatively high prevalence of IC compared with countries with similar levels of

economic and social development, such as Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Indeed, a recent

study of women aged 15 and older living in family units (i.e., women who coreside with their

unmarried children of any age and/or their husbands or cohabiting partners) shows that 33.4%

of them lived in multigenerational households in 2017 (Palma, 2021).

INTERGENERATIONAL CORESIDENCE ACROSS COUNTRIES

A growing body of international literature has shown that IC constitutes a protective environ-

ment against both structural and contingent vulnerability. Several studies on the economic

recession and fiscal austerity in southern Europe have indicated that multigenerational house-

holds, especially those with the presence of older people, generate top-down strategies of hous-

ing, financial support, and childcare to tackle job insecurities faced by younger generations

(Dagkouli-Kyriakoglou, 2018; Floridi, 2020; Frade & Coelho, 2015; Moreno Mínguez, 2017).

In the United States, it has also been shown that households are more likely to “double up”as a

response to economic needs (Pilkauskas et al., 2014). In Latin America, research has shown that

household extension constituted a survival strategy during the debt crisis in the 1980s, allowing

LONG-TERM TRAJECTORIES OF INTERGENERATIONAL 839