Intergenerational co-residence and young couple’s time use in China

Abstract

Abstract Intergenerational families play an important role in providing informal care and support. However, how the intergenerational living arrangements shape the time allocation of young couples remains unclear, and a more comprehensive analysis, where downward support and upward support are distinguished, is needed. Using the “2008 Chinese Time Use Survey” and the seemingly unrelated regression, we document how paid work time, housework and adult care time, and childcare time differ for working-age couples who live with none, relatively young, and relatively old parents. We find that the direction of support changes according to the age of the coresident parents. Compared with those who do not live with parents, couples who live with relatively young parents spend less time on housework and adult care, and those who live with relatively old parents have less paid work time, more housework and adult care time, and those rural wives living with elderly parents even spend less time on childcare. These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing the direction of help for studying intergenerational families and the high time cost of adult care in China.