Coresidence with kin and subjective well-being in the transition to adulthood: A comparison of the United States, Germany, Japan and China

Abstract

Although residence patterns during the transition to adulthood are dynamic and have a high influence on subjective well-being, empirical studies are scarce, especially with regard to international comparisons. The way living arrangements during the transition to adulthood are normatively framed in bilinear, neolocal kinship cultures is very different from the way they are framed in patrilineal, patrilocal cultures. Thus, living arrangements such as living alone, living with parents and especially living with in-laws should correspond to varying levels of well-being depending on the culture. Based on panel data (National Longitudinal Survey of Youth – NLSY97, German Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics, Japanese Life Course Panel Survey and China Family Panel Studies), we analyzed the levels of subjective well-being of young adults aged 20–35 in households of varying family composition across cultures and over time. Differences between patrilineal, patrilocal kinship systems in Japan and China and bilineal, neolocal kinship systems in Germany and the United States became evident in lower levels of subjective well-being of young adults in China and Japan than in Germany and the United States, when living alone or in single-parent families. Germany and the United States were similar in their strong gender differences in subjective well-being, with young women showing a much lower level than men, but differed with regard to the variation by coresidence type, which was higher in the United States than in Germany. Gender differences in Japan and China were related to living in extended households, which resulted in very low levels of subjective well-being for young women, whereas the impact was small in China. Despite the differences in kinship systems, institutional regulations, and opportunity structures, living in a nuclear family of procreation was associated with the highest level of subjective well-being for young men and women in all four countries.