Living arrangements, intergenerational support, and married women’s subjective well-being

Abstract

ABSTRACT Theory suggests that relationships between intergenerational coresidence and married women’s subjective well-being may be either positive or negative. We extend previous research on this question in two ways: by focusing also on geographical proximity to parents(-in-law) and by examining differences in married women’s well-being both between and within different types of living arrangements. Using data from a nationally representative survey of adults in Japan, we found no differences in married women's subjective well-being between living arrangements, but observed significant differences within living arrangements depending on married women’s position in the household and the direction of intergenerational support transfers. Our results suggest that comparisons across living arrangements may be complicated by within-group associations with well-being and that attention to married women’s position in the household and the direction of intergenerational transfers is essential for understanding how married women in Japan experience different living arrangements.