DOCSLIB.ORG

Experiences of Doubling-Up Among American Families with Children

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Experiences of Doubling-Up Among American Families with Children Experiences of Doubling-Up Among American Families With Children The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:39947157 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Experiences of Doubling-up among American Families with Children A dissertation presented by Hope Harvey to The Committee on Higher Degrees in Social Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of Sociology and Social Policy Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts May 2018 © 2018 Hope Harvey All rights reserved. Dissertation Advisors: Hope Harvey Professor Alexandra Killewald Professor Devah Pager Experiences of Doubling-up among American Families with Children Abstract Facing rising rents and economic insecurity, many American families live “doubled-up” in extended households. Households are considered doubled-up if they contain any adults besides the householder and her romantic partner. This dissertation examines the experience and effects of living doubled-up on families with children and highlights variation within this broad category. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of this common alternative housing arrangement, and it contributes theoretical insights to the literatures on social support activation and complex family/household relationships. The first empirical chapter draws on in-depth interview data from 33 parents who doubled-up in someone else’s home to examine how parents who double-up as guests understand and evaluate their housing options. I find that parents assess the quality of the support itself, their relationship with the provider and other household members, and the conditions attached to the support when considering whether a specific source of support is a desirable, or even available, option. This chapter identifies difficult trade-offs that parents using the private housing safety net often face and provides a framework for understanding instrumental support activation decisions. Chapter two draws on data from 60 householders and guests to examine how families negotiate and contest economic arrangements within extended households. I find that guests frequently contribute towards household expenses, making doubling-up a form of social support that often benefits hosts as well as guests, but successful intra-household economic exchange depends on iii household members having a common understanding of the meanings behind exchanges. Disputes about economic arrangements reveal disagreements over the social meanings of household relationships and help explain the instability of double-ups. The final analysis uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and Child and Youth Adult surveys to estimate the cumulative effects on young adult health and educational attainment of childhood years spent in three doubled-up household types: 1) those formed with children’s grandparent(s), 2) those formed with children’s adult sibling(s), and 3) those formed with other extended family or non-kin. I find that the effects vary depending on the relationships between household members and conclude that the study of family complexity can be enriched by considering co- residence with adults beyond the nuclear family. Together, these chapters strengthen our understanding of this common private housing safety net and demonstrate the importance of considering heterogeneity in the experience and effects of living in doubled-up households. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements vi. Introduction 1 1. Choosing a Household: How Parents Navigate the Private Housing Safety Net 9 2. Economic Exchange and Relational Work within Doubled-up Households 47 3. Cumulative Effects of Doubling-up on Young Adult Outcomes 84 Conclusion 123 Appendix 1: Descriptive Statistics 129 Appendix 2: Alternative Age Cut-off 131 Appendix 3: Alternative Household Categories 133 Appendix 4: Stratifying by Mother’s Marital Status 135 Appendix 5: Full Prediction Model for Household Type 137 References 140 v Acknowledgements I am incredibly grateful for the support and mentorship of my dissertation committee: Alexandra Killewald, Devah Pager, Mario L. Small, and Kathryn Edin. Sasha has advised me since I first entered graduate school. Her attention to detail and rigorous feedback on everything from methodological choices to writing style has vastly improved this dissertation and helped me develop as a researcher. I am grateful to Devah for encouraging me to keep my research focused on the issues most important to me. Additionally, conversations with her have been incredibly helpful for thinking through the larger implications of my findings. Mario also provided valuable feedback, asking tough questions and encouraging me to listen to my data, and his insights have improved this project. Reading Kathy’s books got me hooked on sociology in my undergraduate years. For this project, she provided support for data collection and important lessons in qualitative methods. Finally, in addition to their practical advice, I was very lucky to have such a supportive committee. I am grateful for the words of encouragement I received from each member of my dissertation committee. I was fortunate to be surrounded by a supportive group of fellow graduate students. I will always be thankful for my cohort, the Lucky 13, whose brilliance, kindness, and supportiveness cannot be overstated: Alix Winter, Barbara Kiviat, Brielle Bryan, Katherine Morris, Xiaolin Zhou, Matthew Clair, Nathan Wilmers, Tom Wooten, Aaron Benavidez, Alexandra Feldberg, Margot Moinester, and Charlotte Lloyd. Thank you to the How Parents House Kids researchers, who helped collect the sample from which my data was drawn, and especially to fellow graduate student Kelley Fong and Professors Kathryn Edin, Stefanie DeLuca, and Jennifer Darrah-Okike for collaborating with me on other projects with this data. I was lucky to have Kristin Perkins assigned as my graduate student mentor in my first year and to benefit from her advice and vi friendship throughout graduate school. Thank you to Pamela Metz, our Program Director, for her help navigating Harvard. Finally, I am grateful for the support of my family and friends, most especially my parents and Emil. Throughout graduate school (and always), they have kept me laughing, grounded, and feeling loved. Finally, I would like to acknowledge funding that made this dissertation possible. This project was supported by in part by fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, and the Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality and Social Policy. Data collection was made possible by generous support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. vii Dissertation Introduction Facing rising rents and economic insecurity, many Americans live doubled-up with friends or family members. Households are generally considered doubled-up if they include an adult member who is not the householder or romantic partner of the householder. This category includes a broad range of household configurations, from multigenerational homes to roommate arrangements. Rates of doubling-up have increased in recent decades, especially during the Great Recession (Elliott, Young, and Dye 2011; Taylor et al. 2010; Wiemers 2014). By 2010, over 30 percent of adults and nearly 20 percent of children lived in doubled-up households (Mykyta and Macartney 2012). Because doubled-up households are highly unstable, point in time estimates understate the cumulative prevalence of doubling-up. In a sample of children living in urban areas, nearly half doubled-up at some point by the time they reached middle childhood (Pilkauskas, Garfinkel, and McLanahan 2014). This dissertation provides new insight into how families with children experience and are affected by this common housing safety net and highlights heterogeneity within these experiences and effects. In addition to its implications for our understanding of doubling-up a private housing safety net, this dissertation contributes to the study of social support and family complexity. Background on Doubling-up Doubling-up is associated with economic disadvantage. Both householders and guests (the additional adults living in the home owned or rented by the householder) in doubled-up households are more likely to have poverty-level personal incomes than non-doubled-up adults (Mykyta and Macartney 2012). Recessions and high unemployment rates are associated with more doubling-up (Lee and Painter 2013; London and Fairlie 2006; Pilkauskas et al. 2014). Though the evidence is limited, higher fair market rent in a city may be associated with higher 1 rates of doubling-up (Fertig and Reingold 2008). Doubling-up is particularly common for African American, Hispanic, and Asian American families. While slightly less than 20 percent of white adults over age 25 live in doubled-up households, 36 percent of Hispanic adults, 32 percent of Asian adults, and 31 percent of black adults live in doubled-up households. Three- generation households, the most common type of double-up, are more than twice as prevalent among nonwhites as they are among whites (Wiemers
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Roommate Tenancy Contract This Agreeement Is Provided for the Mutual Benefit of Roommates
    Roommate Tenancy Contract This agreeement is provided for the mutual benefit of roommates. The University assumes no responsibility. This agreement made on ______________ is a contract between ______________________________________, ________________________________, and ___________________________________________________, co-tenants at ____________________ (address). We hope to make certain that all responsibilities of renting will be shared equally by all roommates. It is for this reason that we are signing this agreement. We understand that we are entering into a legally binding agreement with one another. We also understand that we as a group and I as an individual are responsible to our landlord, the utility companies, and each other. Term or Period of Agreement This agreement shall remain in effect from ____________________ to __________________________________. Under a month-to-month tenancy, each roommate must give the other roommates thirty (30) days ___ written or ___ oral notice in advance, if for any reason the roommate will be moving out before the date shown above. The roommate may leave and be free of any further financial obligations for the thirty-day notice period, if a substitute roommate is found and is acceptable by the remaining roommate and the owner. Under a lease agreement, the departing roommate will be responsible until a replacement is found. The roommate who is leaving may still be obligated to the landlord by the terms of the signed lease. The landlord should be notified of any pending roommate switch, so that proper arrangements can be made for legal vacating of property. Deposit The roommates have paid a security deposit of ________. (List amount each roommate has paid.) ______________________________________________________________ Each roommate will receive his/her portion from the landlord at the end of the tenancy or when the new roommate moves in and pays a deposit to replace the departing roommate's portion of the security deposit.
    [Show full text]
  • Tips on How to Get Along with Your Roommate
    Tips on How to Get Along with Your Roommate Are you new at this “roommate thing”? Here are some helpful pointers that will aid you in your efforts to have the best relationship with your roommate(s)! Introduction Even if you know about your roommate, sharing basic information about yourself is important. You may want to discuss some of the following things: 1. Your hometown: How big is it? Are you from an urban, suburban, or rural area? 2. Family: Do you come from a large or small family? Do you have an brothers or sisters? Do you have any pets? 3. Previous school: How big was your previous school? Were you involved in any sports/organizations? 4. Your major: What is your major? Why did you choose your major? What career /further education do you want to have after you graduate? 5. Friends back home: Are any of them attending USI? Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend back home? 6. Interests: What are your hobbies? Are there any activities that you want to do at USI? Do you play any sports? Lifestyle These are the typical things that can cause roommates to disagree – so it is very important to discuss them! Often, little things can get in the way of a great roommate relationship. 1. Sleep habits: What time do you normally go to sleep? Do you need a lot of sleep (8+ hours) or a little sleep (6‐ hours)? Can you sleep with music playing or the lights on? Inevitably, you or your roommate will have early morning classes while the other can sleep until noon.
    [Show full text]
  • 2019 Graduate Guarantee Housing Program Faqs
    2019 Graduate Guarantee Housing Program FAQs What does it mean to have a Housing Guarantee? To be eligible for a housing guarantee, students must meet all application, contract return, and fee payment deadlines. The May 1st application deadline is strictly enforced. Housing offers are not guaranteed for applications received after the deadline. Guaranteed students need to accept an offer and be placed before the first day of class for the fall term in order to retain their Housing Guarantee. A student who is placed as a graduate guarantee, who is within their length of stay (normative time to degree minus 1), is guaranteed a renewal with the original domestic status. Special placement (veterans, regent scholars, etc.) are offered renewals per the terms of their guarantee placement. Who is eligible for placement through the 2019 Graduate Guarantee Housing Program? If you have been admitted to a J.D., Ph.D. or MFA program, your admissions offer includes a guaranteed on-campus housing offer for Fall 2019 in one of six on-campus apartment communities. Students must be admitted early enough to complete all steps outlined below: Guaranteed Housing Application Window: March 1 - May 1, 2019 (closes at 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time): To receive a guaranteed housing offer, complete the following steps by the dates indicated: 1. Visit the Student Housing website to learn about housing options, current rental rates, and the leasing process. http://www.housing.uci.edu/grad/index.html 2. Submit your SIR and activate your UCINetID. You will not be able to access the housing application until you submit your Statement of Intent to Register (SIR) and activate your UCINetID.
    [Show full text]
  • In the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
    Case: 15-40370 Document: 00513351183 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/21/2016 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 15-40370 United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED January 21, 2016 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Lyle W. Cayce Plaintiff - Appellee Clerk v. LARRY WAYNE THOMPSON, Defendant - Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Before DAVIS, BARKSDALE, and DENNIS, Circuit Judges. W. EUGENE DAVIS, Circuit Judge: Defendant-Appellant Larry Wayne Thompson appeals his conviction for failure to register as a sex offender. We affirm. I. The relevant facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the jury verdict,1 are as follows: 1 See United States v. Harris, 666 F.3d 905, 907 (5th Cir. 2012) (“All evidence is reviewed in the light most favorable to the verdict to determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found that the evidence established [the defendant’s] guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” (citing United States v. Peñaloza-Duarte, 473 F.3d 575, 579 (5th Cir. 2006))). Case: 15-40370 Document: 00513351183 Page: 2 Date Filed: 01/21/2016 No. 15-40370 In 2000, Thompson pleaded guilty to eight counts of possession of child pornography in federal court in the Northern District of Oklahoma. The court sentenced Thompson to a term of imprisonment. The court also required Thompson to register as a sex offender. After completing his sentence, Thompson registered as a sex offender in Oklahoma. However, in 2007, Thompson moved from Oklahoma to Corpus Christi, Texas, without updating his sex offender registration.
    [Show full text]
  • A Resource for the Shared Living Service Under the DD Waivers
    Shared Living Toolkit: A resource for the Shared Living Service under the DD Waivers Rev. 4/3/2019 Shared Living This service was first introduced in Virginia as part of the My Life My Community DD Waivers Redesign and offers the opportunity for an individual with a disability to live a more independent, integrated life in the community. Shared living allows two people with common interests to develop a close personal relationship, experience life together, and share a place to live. This toolkit provides the information, forms, and tools to assist individuals, families, and providers in understanding and accessing this new service option in Virginia. We hope this information is helpful to you. If you are interested in the Shared Living service, your Support Coordinator/Case Manager and Shared Living provider of choice can assist you in getting started. Table of Contents The Shared Living Service ............................................................................................................ 1 Reimbursement Allowances ........................................................................................................ 2 Accessing Shared Living ............................................................................................................... 8 Service Monitoring/Documentation/Backup Supports ............................................................... 11 Appendix A: Required Forms and Templates Sample Shared Living Sample Supports Agreement ............................................................ A-1
    [Show full text]
  • Single-Family Zoning, Intimate Association, and the Right to Choose Household Companions Rigel C
    Florida Law Review Volume 67 | Issue 4 Article 8 March 2016 Single-Family Zoning, Intimate Association, and the Right to Choose Household Companions Rigel C. Oliveri Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr Part of the Constitutional Law Commons Recommended Citation Rigel C. Oliveri, Single-Family Zoning, Intimate Association, and the Right to Choose Household Companions, 67 Fla. L. Rev. 1401 (2016). Available at: http://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol67/iss4/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by UF Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Florida Law Review by an authorized administrator of UF Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Oliveri: Single-Family Zoning, Intimate Association, and the Right to Choo SINGLE-FAMILY ZONING, INTIMATE ASSOCIATION, AND THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE HOUSEHOLD COMPANIONS Rigel C. Oliveri* “[P]eople consider their right to pass judgment upon their future neighbors as sacred.”1 Abstract Many local governments use single-family zoning ordinances to restrict occupancy in residential areas to households whose members are all related to one another by blood, marriage, or adoption. The Supreme Court upheld such ordinances in the 1974 case of Belle Terre v. Boraas, and they have been used to prevent all sorts of groups from living together—from unmarried couples who are raising children to college students. This Article contends that Belle Terre is wholly incompatible with the Court’s modern jurisprudence on privacy and the right of intimate association. The case appears to have survived this long because of a reflexive deference paid to the “police power,” which gives local governments wide latitude to pass laws to promote the general welfare of the community.
    [Show full text]
  • 2021-2022 Graduate Housing Guide
    University of Rochester Apartments and Off-Campus Living Graduate Housing Guide 2021–2022 Contents Contact Us 3 From the Executive Director 4 Graduate and Family Housing 5 Locations 6 Accommodations and Floor Plans 7 Graduate Community Assistants 11 Application Process 11 Who Can Apply? How to Apply Housing Assignment Process 13 Eligibility Conditions 15 Full-Time Enrollment Six-Year Eligibility Limit Occupancy Verification Register Family and Roommates Subletting Security Deposits Policies 16 Smoking Policy Guest Policy Extended Family Stay Policy Pet Policy Service and Emotional Support Animals Air Conditioners Lease Information 17 Lease Lease Term Automatic Lease Renewal Binding Giving Notice Lease Termination Date Minimum Lease Period Lease Termination Scenarios Rental Insurance False Information Illegal Subletting Roommate Determination Apartment Transfer 19 Off-Campus Private Housing 19 International Graduate Students 20 Terms, Definitions, and Abbreviations 21 Application 22 University of Rochester Graduate Housing Guide 2021–2022 2 Contact Us University Apartments Office 020 Gates Wing Susan B. Anthony Halls Box 270468 Rochester, New York 14627-0468 (585) 275-5824 Fax: (585) 276-1886 [email protected] www.rochester.edu/reslife Graduate and Family Services Office Brian Gordinier, Area Coordinator for Graduate and Family Services 122 Morgan Wing Susan B. Anthony Halls Box 270464 Rochester, New York 14627-0468 (585) 276-7875 [email protected] Off-Campus Living Program 020 Gates Wing Susan B. Anthony Halls Box 270468 Rochester, New York 14627-0468 (585) 275-1081 Fax: (585) 276-1886 [email protected] rochester.edu/reslife University of Rochester Graduate Housing Guide 2021–2022 3 From the Executive Director Dear prospective members of the University of Rochester graduate community, Thank you for your interest in graduate housing at the University of Rochester.
    [Show full text]
  • BSC Owner's Manual
    BSC Owner’s Manual Contact Information 2014 – 2015 BSC Central Office Welcome Co-opers! .................................................................................................. 4 2424 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709 510.848.1936 Fax: 510.848.2114 Moving In ................................................................................................................. 4 Hours: Monday - Friday, 10 - 5 History of the Cooperative Movement .................................................................... 8 www.bsc.coop The Rochdale Principles ............................................................................................. 9 History of the BSC ................................................................................................... 12 Policies ................................................................................................................... 13 Rights, Responsibilities & Rules ............................................................................... 14 Board of Directors: Cabinet Habitability Inspections ......................................................................................... 15 Spencer Hitchcock Zury Cendejas Dash Stander President VP of External Affairs Member-at-Large Building a Healthy Community ............................................................................... 17 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Emergencies ........................................................................................................... 19 Central Level Governance
    [Show full text]
  • Ctc Policy for Roommate Changes Or Household Changes
    CTC POLICY FOR ROOMMATE CHANGES OR HOUSEHOLD CHANGES All leases at Commonwealth Terrace Cooperative (CTC) are leases where each adult resident is required to sign and be on the lease. There is a limit of no more than two adult residents in any unit, and each resident, whether a member of a household or "family" or roommate, is "jointly and severally" responsible for all obligations of the lease. This means that any one roommate/resident is responsible for all rents due to CTC, to fulfill the term of the lease, and for any damages done to the apartment. Each lease at CTC provides that only persons listed on the lease, and approved by CTC, may live in the apartment. Persons not listed as residents or household members, may live in the unit only with the prior written consent of CTC. This document describes CTC's policies for adding, subtracting, or substituting a roommate or household member. Roommate Policies and Roommate Households Roommate Tenancies . Some tenancies at CTC are roommates where there is no family relationship between the residents. Each resident is generally sharing the space to have an opportunity to reduce rental costs and housing expenses, and to have housing while pursuing studies at the University of Minnesota. Roommate change policies are set forth in this document. Household Change Policies . Other tenancies at CTC are households or families such as a couple living together, either a married couple or other domestic partnership, or other familial relationship such as a parent and child. To determine if there is a familial relationship, CTC may request information to show that a couple is married, is a domestic partnership, or has been living together in a relationship of commitment, financial dependence, and otherwise as a household where the persons take responsibility for each other's housing costs and wellbeing and are not simply roommates where the only connection between the persons is shared housing.
    [Show full text]
  • Patterns and Trends in Household Size and Composition: Evidence from a United Nations Dataset
    ST/ESA/SER.A/433 Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division Patterns and trends in household size and composition: Evidence from a United Nations dataset United Nations • New York, 2019 DESA The Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat is a vital interface between global policies in the economic, social and environmental spheres and national action. The Department works in three main interlinked areas: (i) it compiles, generates and analyses a wide range of economic, social and environmental data and information on which States Members of the United Nations draw to review common problems and take stock of policy options; (ii) it facilitates the negotiations of Member States in many intergovernmental bodies on joint courses of action to address ongoing or emerging global challenges; and (iii) it advises interested Governments on the ways and means of translating policy frameworks developed in United Nations conferences and summits into programmes at the country level and, through technical assistance, helps build national capacities. The Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs provides the international community with timely and accessible population data and analysis of population trends and development outcomes for all countries and areas of the world. To this end, the Division undertakes regular studies of population size and characteristics and of all three components of population change (fertility, mortality and migration). Founded in 1946, the Population Division provides substantive support on population and development issues to the United Nations General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Commission on Population and Development.
    [Show full text]
  • Georgia Landlord-Tenant Handbook |1
    GEORGIA LANDLORD TENANT HANDBOOK A Landlord-Tenant Guide to the State’s Rental Laws Revised February 2021 Georgia Landlord-Tenant Handbook |1 Introduction This Handbook provides an overview and answers common questions about Georgia residential landlord-tenant law. The information in this Handbook does not apply to commercial or business leases. The best solution for each case depends on the facts. Because facts in each case are different, this Handbook covers general terms and answers, and those answers may not apply to your specific problem. While this publication may be helpful to both landlords and tenants, it is not a substitute for professional legal advice. This Handbook has information on Georgia landlord-tenant law as of the last revision date and may not be up to date on the law. Before relying on this Handbook, you should independently research and analyze the relevant law based on your specific problem, location, and facts. In Georgia, there is not a government agency that can intervene in a landlord-tenant dispute or force the landlord or tenant to behave a particular way. Landlords or tenants who cannot resolve a dispute need to use the courts, either directly or through a lawyer, to enforce their legal rights. The Handbook is available on the internet or in print (by request) from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (www.dca.ga.gov). Table of Contents Relevant Law 3 Entering into a Lease and Other Tenancy Issues 5 1. Submitting a Rental Application 5 2. Reviewing and Signing a Lease 5 3. Problems During a Lease: 10 4.
    [Show full text]
  • Making Room: Housing for a Changing America Is a Rallying Cry for a Wider Menu of Housing Options
    Just as the housing needs of individuals change over a lifetime, unprecedented shifts in both demographics and lifestyle have fundamentally transformed our nation’s housing requirements. • Adults living alone now account for nearly 30 percent of American households. • While only 20 percent of today’s households are nuclear families, the housing market largely remains fixated on their needs. • By 2030, 1 in 5 people in the United States will be age 65 or over — and by 2035, older adults are projected to outnumber children for the first time ever. • The nation’s housing stock doesn’t fit the realities of a changing America. Featuring infographics, ideas, solutions, photographs and floor plans from the National Building Museum exhibition of the same name, Making Room: Housing for a Changing America is a rallying cry for a wider menu of housing options. Visit AARP.org/MakingRoom to download a PDF of this publication or order a free printed edition. The National Building Museum inspires curiosity about the world we design and build through AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan exhibitions and programming that organization dedicated to empowering people 50 explore how the built world shapes and older to choose how they live as they age. The our lives. Located in Washington, D.C., the Museum AARP Livable Communities initiative works nationwide believes that understanding the history and impact AARP to support the efforts of neighborhoods, towns, cities of architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, and rural areas to be livable for people of all ages. construction, and design is important for all ages.
    [Show full text]