Date of Award

1-1-2011

Document Type

Campus Access Dissertation

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Jimy Sanders

Abstract

I examine the influence of employment status, marital status, and disabilities on the likelihood an adult individual lives in the same home as her parent(s). This living situation is termed coresidence. Based on the life course perspective, I hypothesize that those experiencing an unstable employment status, marital status, or disability status have higher odds of coresiding. I use data from the 2006, 2007, and 2008 American Community Surveys to evaluate these hypotheses. Logistic regression models indicate that unstable employment statuses, marital statuses, and disability are each associated with higher odds of coresiding, supporting my hypotheses. However these results vary based on the context of the individual. Specifically, as suggested by life course research, age, period, cohort effects must be taken into account. Together these results illustrate that the reasons for coresiding are varied, but instability in the life course is the key to understanding those reasons. Furthermore, I find prevailing norms and popular portrayals for describing coresiders to be inappropriate and simplistic.

Rights

© 2011, Michael Steketee

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