Co-residency of Single Adult Children with their Parents

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Using the National Family Research of Japan 1998 and 2003, this research has examined how the co-residency of parents and young adult children affects the levels of parents'satisfaction and the satisfaction of their young adult children. We extend the analysis to examine whether or not there are any gender effects related to co-residence. In order to estimate the impact of co-residence, we estimate the average treatment effects of the treated by the propensity score matching method. It is found that co-residence with their young adult child reduces both the level of life satisfaction and marital satisfaction of Japanese parents. In particular, the negative satisfaction of parents stems from mothers' dissatisfaction with co-residing with an adult son. In contrast, co-residence with an adult daughter does not reduce the satisfaction of either parent. Surprisingly, the life satisfaction of young adult children is not affected by their co-residence with their parents. Moreover, we find that financial transfers from an adult child to his/her parents increase the probability of co-residence, but financial transfers from parents to their child have no effect on the probability of co-residence. As a result, the 'bribe' model is not valid in Japan, and it is more likely that Japanese parents gain rent payments in exchange for co-residency.