Older Adults Living with an Adult Roommate or Sibling, 2022
Since the mid-1960s, the living arrangements of older adults (those aged 50 and above) have shifted significantly. Today, most older adults either live alone, with a spouse, or with a partner (Ausubel, 2020; Vespa, 2017). Although the proportion of older adults living with a spouse remains stable (Vespa, 2017), a declining share of older adults lives alone (Stepler, 2020) and an increasing share are in multigenerational households (Washington, Gryn, Anderson, & Kreider, 2023). However, less is known about other living arrangements, such as living with roommates (home sharing) or siblings. Previous research by the NCFMR revealed an increase in the proportion of older adults living with a sibling or a roommate from 2015 to 2020, with the largest growth observed among those living with a roommate. In this profile, we update these findings using 2022 data from the American Community Survey 1-year estimates. We also assess the age of the youngest roommate in the household along with the marital status and race/ethnicity of the household heads in these living arrangements. Living with a roommate and living with a sibling are not mutually exclusive arrangements; those who live with both are represented in the each of the trendlines in Figure 1.
In the ACS, residents in the household are identified by their relationship to the household head (the reference person). Figure 1 is a list of all the possible relationships with those used in this Family Profile in brown and orange. Households with reference persons who are 50 years or older and who have either a brother or sister in the house (any age) or a roommate or housemate (who is above the age of 18) are the focus of this Profile.
Prevalence of living with an adult roommate and sibling
Figure 1. Prevalence of Living with an Adult Roommate or Sibling, 2012 & 2022
Note. Prevalence of older adults living with an adult roommate or living with a sibling are represented as the number of household heads aged 50 and older with a given living arrangement per 1,000 household heads aged 50 and older.
- Out of the 69,174,704 older adult household heads in 2022, 1,099,490 were living with an adult roommate and 1,115,408 were living with a sibling.
- From 2012 to 2022, the prevalence rates of living with a roommate and living with a sibling both increased for older adult household heads.
- The prevalence of living with a sibling increased from 13 per 1,000 older adult household heads in 2012 to 16 per 1,000 in 2022.
- Living with a roommate also became more common for older adults increasing from 10 per 1,000 in 2012 to 16 per 1,000 in 2022
- The rate increase was more pronounced for older adults living with a roommate than for those living with a sibling, yet both rates converged to about 16 per 1,000 in 2022.
Youngest age of adult roommate, 2022
- Older adults living with an adult roommate most frequently lived with a roommate who was also an older adult (61%).
- The youngest roommate for one quarter of older adults living with an adult roommate was between the ages of 30 to 49 years old.
- Only 14% of older adults living with an adult roommate were living with a roommate whose youngest age was between 18 and 29 years old.
Figure 2. Youngest Age of Adult Roommate, 2022
Marital status by living arrangement, 2022
- A greater proportion of older adults living with a sibling were never married or single (31%) compared to those living with an adult roommate (25%).
- Older adults in both types of living arrangements had similar shares who were widowed (13%).
- Less than one-third (29%) of older adult household heads living with a sibling were divorced or separated in 2022 but approaching half of those living with an adult roommate (44%) were divorced or separated.
- Older adults living with a sibling were more often married (27%) in comparison to older adults living with an adult roommate (18%).
Figure 3. Marital Status by Living Arrangement, 2022
Race/ethnicity by living arrangement, 2022
- Almost two-thirds of older adult household heads living with an adult roommate were White (63%) compared to less than half of older adults living with a sibling (49%).
- A greater proportion of older adults living with a sibling were Black, Asian, or Hispanic relative to those living with an adult roommate.
- Similar percentages of older adults living with an adult roommate were of other or multiple races as those living with a sibling (3%).
Data Source:
Ruggles, S. Flood, S., Foster, S., Goeken, R., Pacas, J., Schouweiler, M., & Sobek, M. (2024). IPUMS USA: Version 11.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS. https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V11.0
References:
Julian, C. A. (2022). Older adults living with an adult roommate and sibling, 2020. Family Profile, FP-22-32. National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-22-32
Ruggles, Steven (2007). The Decline of Intergenerational Co-residence in the United States, 1850 to 2000. American Sociological Review, vol. 72, No. 6, pp. 964–989.
Russell, D. & Breaux, E. (2019). Living arrangements in later life. In Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2020). World Population Ageing 2020 Highlights: Living arrangements of older persons (ST/ESA/SER.A/451). Retrieved from https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd-2020_world_population_ageing_highlights.pdf
Vespa, J. (2017). Historical living arrangements of older adults: 1967-2016. U.S. Census Bureau, SEHSD-WP2017-30. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/library/working-papers/2017/demo/SEHSD-WP2017-30.html
Wu, H. (2018). Living with a sibling or roommate in older adulthood, 1990 & 2016. Family Profiles, FP-18-19. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-18-19
Suggested Citation:
Loo, J., & Westrick-Payne, K. K. (2024). Older adults living with an adult roommate and sibling, 2022. Family Profile, FP-24-17. National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-24-17
This project is supported with assistance from Bowling Green State University. From 2007 to 2013, support was also provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s) and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of any agency of the state or federal government.
Updated: 09/03/2024 10:58AM