Who Really Lives Here and Does It Matter? Household Composition Trajectories for Children Living with Other Adults in the Home besides Their Parents

Nola C. du Toit, NORC at the University of Chicago
Jennifer Brown, NORC at the University of Chicago
Catherine Haggerty, NORC at the University of Chicago

Researchers often examine how types of households affect child wellbeing. But these studies focus on relationships of parents (married, cohabiting, single, or step), usually neglecting other adults that may be living in the home. In previous work we found that 45% of low-income households contained an adult who was not the parent of the child, including 22% with at least one grandparent, 12% with an extended family member, 12% had an adult sibling of the child, and 6% included a non-related adult. We also found that in 10% of homes the child’s parent was not present. These different households varied significantly in economic measures and when including other adults, half of our households experienced some kind of change in composition over a three year period. Using three waves of data, we extend our work to examine the trajectories that children may experience when household structure includes these other adults.