Co-Residence of Divorced and Widowed Adult Children with Their Mothers in South Korea

Hyunjoon Park, University of Pennsylvania

In Korea, the recent rapid rise in divorce has important implications for well-being of divorced parents and their children, who receive weak public support. Alternatively, the extended family system has played an important role in providing emotional and economic support to single-parent families. Korea is a country with “strong family ties” and co-residence with grandparents is particularly important for children of single parents. Using data from Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing, which was conducted in 2006, I examine prevalence of co-residence of the divorced/widowed adult child with her/his mother and explore both parent’s and the adult child’s characteristics that affect co-residence. Specifically, mother-level analysis shows that Korean mothers (age 60+) have a greater likelihood of co-residence with an adult child when they have a divorced or widowed child. Child-level analysis reveals that adult children who are divorced or widowed are much more likely to live with their mother than their married counterparts.