CORESIDENCE BETWEEN ADULT CHILDREN AND THEIR ELDERLY PARENTS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

Co-residence between adult children aged 35 or more and their elderly parent(s) or parent(s)-in-law has been investigated using data from the Office of the Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) Longitudinal Survey and the 1985 General Household Survey supplement on informal carers. Overall 4 per cent of adults lived with a parent or parent-in-law but this proportion varied considerably with age, marital status and gender. Socio-economic differentials in co-residence were also found. These suggested that where the child is the provider of support to an elderly parent co-residence may be associated with socio-economic advantage. Differentials in co-residence rates and differences between co-residence data from the Longitudinal Study (LS) and data on co-resident carers from the General Household Survey (GHS) also point to the important role of elderly people as providers of support to adult children. In conclusion, the implications of these data for policies of community care are considered.