We get by with family: Maternal partnership transitions and extended kin coresidence

• Published date: 01 December 2023
• Author: Heidi M. Williams
• Date: 01 December 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12883

RESEARCH

We get by with family: Maternal partnership

transitions and extended kin coresidence

Heidi M. Williams

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State

University, Blacksburg, VA

Correspondence

Heidi M. Williams, 504 McBryde Hall,

225 Stanger Street, Virginia Polytechnic

Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA

24061, USA.

Email: hmwill07@vt.edu

Abstract

Objective: This study examines the extent to which

mothers coreside with extended kin during partnership

transitions.

Background: Parental relationship changes are increasingly

common, especially among unmarried parents. Although

research shows that families often coreside out of eco-

nomic necessity, extended kin coresidence as a function of

maternal relationship changes has not been explored.

Using life course theory, this study examines where and

with whom mothers and their children live during partner-

ship transitions.

Method: Data are from 2,886 mothers who participated in

the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Bivari-

ate and multinomial logistic regression, random effects,

and fixed effects models were estimated to determine if

mothers’coresidential relationships with extended kin

were formed by changes in mothers’coresidential romantic

partnership statuses.

Results: Mothers’partnership changes were associated

with extended kin coresidence, especially among unmar-

ried mothers. By Year 9, mothers were more likely to live

“elsewhere.”Mothers’parity and multipartnered fertility

decreased their chances of living with extended kin.

Conclusion: This study indicates that maternal relationship

changes provoke family instability and reliance on

extended kin. Mothers’transitions contribute to “network

fatigue”and homelessness.

Author note: The author thanks Robin S. Högnäs, Karen Christopher, Robert Carini, Lauren Heberle, and Armon Perry for their

comments on earlier drafts. The author also thanks Jamie Lau for her endless support. Finally, a sincere thankyou to the families for

participating in the Future Families and Child Wellbeing Study.

Received: 31 December 2021Revised: 4 July 2022Accepted: 3 January 2023

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12883

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and

reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2023 The Author. Family Relations published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2023;72:2353–2370. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 2353

Implications: Housing support for mothers may mitigate

instability associated with maternal relationship transitions

and protect extended kin against transitions.

KEYWORDS

extended kin, multipartnered fertility, nonmarital childbearing,

partnership transitions

Over the past half-century, changes in partnering and parenting practices (e.g., cohabitation

and nonmarital childbearing) have led to rising family and residential instability in the

United States (Cavanagh & Fomby, 2019; Oh et al., 2021). As a result, studies investigating

extended kin involvement increased because extended families may serve as protective barriers

during times of change (Pilkauskas & Cross, 2018). Indeed, research shows that a significant

proportion of unmarried mothers live and have close relationships with their mothers

(Högnäs & Carlson, 2012). Coresidential relationships with kin are “on again, off again,”often

in response to maternal relationship transitions (Pilkauskas, 2012; Pilkauskas & Cross, 2018).

Shared households becamemore prevalent inthe 20 years afterwelfare reform, from5.7%

in 1996 to 9.8% in 2016 (Pilkauskas & Cross, 2018)—which the authors argued “shows that the

increase started well before the [Great Recession] (before 2007) and continued beyond its end

(2010)”(p. 2293). By 2018, 10% of U.S. children resided in multigenerational households—

operationalized as grandparents, parents, and (grand)children living together in one

household—the highest percentage since 1950 (Pilkauskas et al., 2020). Evidence suggests that

the United States operates under a “largely residual welfare state,”where families, rather than

the government, are expected to function as support systems in times of need (Berger &

Carlson, 2020, p. 482).

Multigenerational households are often established to fulfill the needs of younger, rather

than elder generations (Aquilino, 1990). Indeed, the receipt of Social Security benefits is linked

to increases in extended kin coresidence, which implies the younger generation may rely on

these benefits to make ends meet (Pilkauskas & Cross, 2018). Although Social Security benefits

offer elder generations financial stability, increases in household composition may threaten this

security. Research investigating the effects of coresiding with adult children is “both a cause

and consequence of economic insecurity”for parents, as coresidence increases basic household

consumption (e.g., utilities; Maroto, 2017, p. 1054).

Housing instability is common among unmarried women (Oh et al., 2021). As a result, sin-

gle mothers often “double up”with extended family out of economic necessity (Pilkauskas

et al., 2014), particularly when their children are young (Oh et al., 2021). Single mothers are at

greater risk of being unemployed, less educated, depressed, and stressed (Jackson, 1998;

Jackson et al., 2013). Further, housing instability increases maternal risk of experiencing a

major depressive episode, especially if they experience multiple moves (Oh et al., 2021).

Studies have explored associations between parental relationships and financial support

from kin (see Mazelis & Mykyta, 2011; Pilkauskas et al., 2014). One study examines extended

kin households by relationship status at the birth of focal children—a study the author referred

to as “descriptive in nature”(Pilkauskas, 2012, p. 934)—but restricts extended kin coresidence

to grandfathers, grandmothers, or both. The current study extends the literature in three ways:

by (a) including a broader definition of extended kin in the models (e.g., aunts/uncles, grandpar-

ents, parents-in-law vs. maternal parents, but not mothers’siblings or cousins);

(b) longitudinally modeling where mothers live with extended kin (e.g., their own homes

vs. extended kin homes); and (c) accounting for relationship status changes overa 9-year

period. Investigating the association between relationship status change and residential support

is important, as research suggests that mothers sometimes seek “temporary refuge”with

extended kin during times of crisis (Edin & Kefalas, 2005, p. 67).

2354 FAMILY RELATIONS