ABSTRACT

Living together – or not – may have valuable advantages. At the least, doing so saves money since one common household is less expensive than several ones. However, adult generations sharing the same space goes against the norm of and wish for autonomy, and it comes with compromises in daily life. Thus, it is of particular interest to find out how many parents and adult children live together and who they are – comparing individuals, families and countries. Furthermore, does it make sense to conclude a ‘crisis of the family’ from the fact that coresidence is less common among contemporary families than it has been in the past? The argument would be less convincing if adult family generations living together were to do so out of necessity.