Child support

Reports on studies published in the 'Journal of Marriage and the Family' which explored the profile of adult offsprings who live with their parents in the United States. Social and economic benefits of the situation for both offspring and parents.

By PT Staff, published on September 01, 1995

So your deadbeat son moved back home when he couldn't get a job aftercollege. Don't be disgruntled. Sociologists call your family an "intergenerational household," but maybe the best description of what happens when parents and adult offspring share living quarters is "teamwork." Two studies reported in the Journal of Marriage and the Family reveal that adult offspring live with their parents more often than you might think--and it isn't just the kids who benefit.

o Adults who live with their parents aren't all Gen X slackers. In fact, the pro-portion of unmarried adults who share a home with mom and dad--about one in three--stays nearly constant between the ages of 25 and 55. And one in eight divorced adults lives with their parents, report Lynn White, Ph.D., of the University of Nebraska, and Debra Peterson, Ph.D., of Concordia College.

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* Adult offspring spend more than two hours a day doing household chores. Daughters contribute about 17 hours a week; sons, 14.4 hours.

Those contributions fall neatly along traditional gender lines, say State University of New York's Glenna Spitze, Ph.D., and Russell Ward, Ph.D. Women spend most of their time doing laundry, cooking, cleaning, and dishes (13.7 hours, versus 7.5 for men), while sons are more likely to take responsibility for yard work and car care.

Alas, there's plenty left to keep morn and pop busy: They still do three-quarters of the housework.

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): A mother and her baby.