Geographical Distances Between Adult Children and Parents

It is well known that the percentage of multigenerational coresidence in Japan is very high among developed countries.  In recent years, however, the share is declining.  For example, 52.5％ of the elderly coresided with one of their married children in 1980.  Today (from 2011 data), the corresponding figure amounts to only 16.6%.   In contrast to the reality, majority of empirical research on intergenerational relationship in Japan still focuses on the determinants of coresidence.  Not much scholarly attention is paid on the geographical distance between parents and adult children who live separately.  It is important to study the intergenerational distance since past research consistently indicate that intergenerational support transfers are influenced by the distance between the two. 

Using the Fourth National Survey on Family in Japan conducted by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research in 2008, I examine the distance between adult married daughters and their parents (if possible, also their parents-in-law), and what factors determine the distance.  I take the effects of adult daughter’s demographic and socioeconomic characteristics such as education, a number of siblings, sibling composition (birth order and gender), as well as regional effects into consideration.  In particular, I focus on support needs of both daughters and parents.  If possible, I will also use the previous surveys to see whether the geographic distribution between the generation has changed in the given time period, how the determinants of intergenerational distance between the two have changed over time.  The study aims to address how the intergenerational distance is shaped by the needs of family members who do not coreside.