Cohabiting adult children's transfers to parents in the United States

Objective This brief report presents national estimates of transfers of time and money from cohabiting adult children (ages 18-65) to their parents (own and in-laws) to test whether cohabiting adults give differently from their counterparts. Background Previous US studies use data collected in the late 1980s and mid-1990s, when cohabitation was an emerging family form; they find mixed results. Rising rates of cohabitation and an aging population of parents who may rely on transfers from adult children necessitate updated estimates that can help develop the theory of institutionalization of cohabitation. Method This study used the 2013 Panel Study of Income Dynamics Rosters and Transfers Module, a sample of US households (N = 6340), and logistic and negative binomial models to estimate the likelihood of giving any time or any money to parents by the respondent's union status, the amounts given, and parent type (own, in-laws). Results Cohabitors were less likely to give time to their own parents than their never married counterparts, and gave fewer hours, but were more likely to give time and gave more hours than married adults. For financial transfers to own parents, cohabitors and married respondents gave similarly, but both were less likely to give any money than were single respondents. Cohabitators gave more hours to their in-laws than married respondents. Conclusion Cohabitors behave somewhere in-between marital "greedy institution" norms and broader norms of solidarity with parents. More work should be done to understand how union status affects transfers to parents.