Residential Patterns

Modernization has had a strong impact on ethnic and racial residential patterns, both in the United States and around the world. Traditional norms, such as patrilocality, or the recently married residing in the husband's parents’ home in a three-generational family, are discussed in this article. Changes to these norms also are discussed, including the movement of ethnic/racial minorities to the suburbs and the greater representation of individuals living alone, in part due to social welfare policies. Finally, Robert Putnam's breakdown of American society is presented, along with the concepts of social capital and civic virtue and how residential patterns impact the welfare of individuals as well as groups.

Keywords 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act; China's One Child Policy; Competence; Constraint; Environmental Press; Filial piety; Matrilocality; Noelocality; Norms; Patrilocality; Social Capital

Family & Relationships > Residential Patterns

Overview

Modern life has introduced numerous innovations, such as improved transportation to faraway places, telephones, and the Internet. These innovations bridge great distances, increase exposure to different cultures and ways of life, encourage changing gender roles, and offer employment out of the home for most adults. These factors, and many others, have also affected residential patterns in most countries. "Residential patterns" refers to where people live, especially in relation to other members of their family. Traditional or normative cultural residential patterns are being changed. This article explores some of those changes, and why it matters to individuals and to the public at large.

Patrilocality

According to Louise Grogan (2007), estimates suggest that "70 percent of human societies are patrilocal, meaning that adult sons reside with their parents, and that wives go to live with their husbands' families upon marriage" (p. 685). These cultures are "rooted in filial piety wherein the care for the elderly from the family has traditionally been given and accepted as a customary and normative duty" (Seong Ho Yoo, Sung, 1997, p. 225). "Normative" means that it is a standard model or pattern within a given society to adhere to the practice or custom. One obvious example of a patrilocal culture is China. Because newly married children go and reside with the husband's family, the paternal parents receive lifelong financial and personal support and care in their old age, as well as the enjoyment of their child and his family. In return, the elderly parents provide child care and engage in some of the household chores. Since daughters go and live with their husband's parents, those couples who have a daughter do not enjoy her or her children's companionship or care. Much of rural China still lacks a convenient travel infrastructure, so even if one's daughter moved only twenty miles away, the travel burden can be significant and prohibitive. Visits are rare, and support during old age or illness is nearly nonexistent. Since China lacks solid social services, including health and elder care services, parents of daughters could be plunged into financial and personal distress.

The cultural practice of female child abandonment or murder has been exacerbated by China's one-child policy. In 1979, to control population growth in China, the government ordered that ethnic Han families living in urban areas could have only one child. This was intended to be a temporary measure, but it remains in effect. "Fines, pressure to abort a pregnancy, and even forced sterilization accompany second or subsequent pregnancies," so parents go to extreme measures to make sure that their one child is male (Rosenberg, 2008). Estimates cite that China has experienced a three hundred million reduction in total population because of this policy (Rosenberg, 2008). Since this policy has altered the gender balance in China's birth rate and reduced its birth rate overall, restrictions have been lifted for certain couples when both individuals have no siblings. In these instances, they are allowed to have two children.

Viewpoints

Theoretical Analysis of Residential Patterns

Environmental Press & Competence

In his theoretical analysis of residential patterns, Lawton argues that an individual's choice of living arrangements depends upon his or her "environmental press" and "competence." By "environmental press," Lawton means the particular content or stimulus that has some demand upon the individual. "Competence" refers to the individual's mental, physical, and emotional capacity (1982). Under Lawton's analysis, then, the determination of living arrangements is not merely an individual decision, but an interplay between the individual and factors outside that individual, such as the availability of social security benefits, public housing, or one's number of children.

Constraint, Resources & Family Norms & Preferences

In their study of non-nuclear, or independent adults, Frances Kobrin and Calvin Goldscheider (1982) argued that residential factors were based upon three influences: constraint, resources, and family norms and preferences .

• Constraint refers to the number of immediate relatives a person has in one community. This means that an individual with numerous relatives has a greater opportunity to live with them than those individuals who are isolated from other family members.
• Resources refer to the level of financial assets that the individual has access to; a person with significant assets can afford the option of living alone.
• Family norms and preferences not only include cultural traditions like patrilocality, but other practices as well. In New England, for example, many households of certain ethnic backgrounds are comprised of unmarried siblings who share a collective home for their entire life. In fact, studies have shown that never-married individuals are more likely to live with other relatives than widowed or divorced adults (Kobrin, 1981), but that widowed individuals are more likely to reside with relatives than white, married couples (Tsuya & Martin, 1992).

Age

One important factor in any analysis of residential patterns is the age of an individual. "Pampel (1983) reported that the propensity toward living alone increased continuously until age 75 and after that it went down" (Seong Ho Yoo & Sung, 1997, p. 228). One major reason that independent living decreased after age seventy-five had to do with the greater likelihood of disability. Elderly women were more likely to live alone, but this may be related to their longer life span than men (Kobrin, 1976). On the other hand, in their study of Canadian women, Kausar Thomas and Andrew Wister (1984) suggested that age, income, and education level were minor factors in explaining living arrangements while the number of children and ethnic background proved to be major influences. Having several children increases the likelihood that an individual will reside with one or more of those children. Although not a dominant factor, one’s level of education does prove to be a consistent influence in residential patterns, with more educated individuals preferring independent living (Kobrin, 1976).

Internal & External Factors

While there may seem to be some contradictory findings noted above, there does seem to be support for the argument that both internal and external factors shape the outcome of individual residential choices. The influence of ethnicity and number of children serves as a dominant factor in three-generation residences. E. Mutran (1985), for example, argues that "Black and Hispanic-Americans tend to have a greater extended family structure and more mutual helping patterns among family members because of cultural traditions and limited economic resources than their white counterparts" (Seong Ho Yoo & Sung, P. 229). It is certainly the case, however, that contemporary social welfare programs, such as Social Security, public housing, and Medicare, have significantly increased the ability for elderly individuals in particular to live independently (Minkler & Stone, 1985). In fact, Meredith Minkler and R. Stone discuss the feminization of poverty given the large number of elderly women living alone in public housing with minimal Social Security benefits as their only means of financial support.

Immigration & Residential Patterns

Since patrilocality is such a dominant practice throughout much of the world and individuals from many cultures have immigrated to the United States, it is important to consider the question of whether the cultural norm of patrilocality is withstanding American cultural pressures. Neolocality, in which the newlyweds create a home independent of both partners’ parents is most common in the United States. In their survey of the 1980 US Census data, Seong Ho Yoo and Kyu-Taik Sung determined that 75 percent of Koreans aged sixty-five or older lived with their children (1997). This finding would suggest that immigrants to our country continue to practice patrilocality despite alternative cultural pressures. Part of the explanation for this situation, in addition to traditional norms, is that these elderly Korean parents were sponsored by the adult child during the more open immigration policies of the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act (Gardner, 1986). They did not qualify for social security or any sort of pension, so dependence upon their adult children for financial and personal support was imperative in numerous instances (Seong Ho Yoo & Sung). In Korea as elsewhere, the family is the basic source of social security.

In looking at the life situation of minority elders, researchers speak of "triple jeopardy," meaning that the individual is likely to have more negative experiences than their white counterparts if they are old, female, and a minority (Hoyt & Babchuk, 1981). Many immigrant individuals experience a fourth jeopardy in that they often have received little formal education in their native country and they lack a proficiency in the English language (Gelfand, 1989). Because of these additional factors, foreign, non-English-speaking immigrants have a difficult time negotiating the demands of American life.

During a review of the 1990 US Census data, however, Seong Ho Yoo and Sung (1997) discovered that only 57 percent of Korean elders resided with an adult child, which is a significant decrease. They found that personal income was one major determinant of joint residence. Individuals with income or social security benefits of under $5,000 per year resided with their children. On the other hand, numerous individuals with income of slightly more than $10,000 per year, who also qualified for public housing, resided alone on their meager budget. Since these individuals did not drive or own a car, they had limited financial demands upon their benefits. Interestingly, about 70 percent of the elder study participants acknowledged that they were receiving some level of financial support from their children, but more often than not they declined to describe how much money was being provided.

Seong Ho Yoo and Sung, as well as other researchers, have concluded that the American social welfare system plays a major role in shifts from three-generational housing by providing individuals with the means to live independently. The more educated the individual, the greater the likelihood of independent living, especially among individuals with a college education. The desire for privacy and independence and/or "unsatisfactory relations with children and daughters-in-law were the most important reasons for the preference of separate living arrangements" (Seong Ho Yoo, 1997, p. 240).

Four major reasons why elders remained living with their children: "Not to be lonely, to depend upon children, to take care of grandchildren, and to adhere to family norms" (p. 238). In their study of three-generational living arrangements in China, Feinian Chen (2005) argues that viewing the arrangements as a lifelong situation may pose the wrong perspective. Chen argues that the arrangement is adaptive to family needs despite traditional pulls and that it is most likely to occur when a young couple is first married, when they have young children, and when the parents become elderly. Otherwise, Chen argues that couples may live independently for some period of time in between these life transitions. He argues for studies that delve into the life course of individuals, not just those that capture them in a moment in time.

Immigration & Community Affiliation

Seong Ho Yoo and Sung's finding of decreased three-generational housing are supported by several other studies that conclude that "there is a significant relationship between the length of immigration and community affiliation” (Seong Ho Yoo, 1997, p. 229). Recent arrivals "tended to have stronger ties to their ethnic heritage and be more community-oriented than earlier settlers" (Seong Ho Yoo, 1997, p. 229). Similarly, "recently arrived minority groups were much less likely to be living alone than those with longer residence" (Seong Ho Yoo, 1997, p. 229). By congregating in urban residential areas with individuals of a similar background, newly arrived immigrants have great social, financial, and emotional support.

Once "racial and ethnic groups advance socioeconomically, they should become more integrated spatially," according to general social science reasoning (Iceland, 2003, p. 3). In other words, once immigrants achieve a measure of financial well-being, the researchers' assumption is that these individuals will elect to move to the suburbs rather than remain in the inner city. Traditionally, scholars describe this transition as a slow process from "clustering with co-ethnics in cities to integrating with the established groups in the suburbs" (Hao, 2004, p. 1). While this may have been the transitional pattern historically, John R. Logan (1999) argues that a large percentage of recent immigrants make this move within five years of their arrival in the United States (Hao, p. 1).

While there is a demonstrated increased integration of ethnic and racial minorities in the suburbs, Lingxin Hao and his colleagues argue that these individuals are creating ethnic neighborhoods within suburban communities. A case in point might be the city of Malden, Massachusetts, which is less than ten miles outside of Boston. Located on a major public transportation line, Malden was known as a white community with a well-established Jewish population that has been represented for over one hundred years. Since the 1990s, Asian migration to the city has created a fifty/fifty population shift between minorities and whites. Communities such as Malden seem to support Hao's argument that minority families are not merely moving to the suburbs, but rather, they are creating ethnic and racial enclaves in suburban communities.

Social Capital

Throughout this article, reference has been made to the adaptive social and economic benefit of three-generational housing and of ethic communities established within suburban residential areas. Another term for these benefits that is used by sociologists is "social capital." "Social capital refers to connections among individuals—social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them" (Putnam, 2000, p. 19). The term was first used in 1916 by L. J. Hanifan, the state supervisor of rural schools in West Virginia. Social capital was discussed in terms of parental and community involvement in the local schools. Through such involvement, Hanifan argued that numerous tangible and intangible benefits would accrue to individuals, to the schools, and to their communities. By the 1950s, sociologists were using the term to study shifting residential patterns and urban neighborliness. This focus provided a means of looking at the social and economic resources embodied in social networks.

An individual with strong social capital—a strong social network—reaps a variety of benefits, including economic, social, and emotional support. Out-of-work individuals, for example, are more likely to find employment through their social connections than by merely applying to job postings. A helping hand in times of financial strife, emotional support, assistance with child care, friendship, and companionship are some additional elements of private good. Sociologists would call this specific reciprocity: "I help you and you help me." It is apparent, then, that three-generational housing arrangements and ethnic/racial community enclaves in the suburbs and urban areas all enhance an individual's social capital.

Social capital also can have a public good and creates a sense of generalized reciprocity. As Robert Putnam (2000) describes it, "I'll do this for you without expecting anything specific back from you, in the confident expectation that someone else will do something for me down the road" (p. 21). This public good reinforces the rules of conduct by which a stable society exists. It establishes collective laws and customs and encourages adherence to them. It generates a personal stake in the public good that causes individuals to watch out for their neighbor's property, maintain their own residential property for the overall good of the community, support the local schools, and a wide variety of other public good. In other words, "social networks have value" and increase the productivity of individuals and groups through social ties (Putnam, 2000, p. 19).

Putnam argues further that social capital can both bond and bridge. Evidence of bonding social capital are the three-generational housing arrangements and ethnic community enclaves that have been discussed. These tight social networks enhance life for the individuals who participate in them and bond them firmly with other family members and their ethnic/racial counterparts. Bridging social capital refers to one's ability to reach out into unfamiliar and different social contexts to meet one’s needs. Examples of bridging social capital might be the ability of the first ethnic/racial residents moving to the city of Malden. For particular reasons unique to them, probably including public transportation access, these pioneers moved into a new community and established a quality of life that fostered emulation by other members of their social network.

Eroding Away of Social Capital

Having noted the personal and public good that comes from strong social capital, many argue that American society is deteriorating overall due to isolation, unwillingness to work for the public good, and lack of participation in politics. In his national bestseller, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Robert Putnam describes a rather bleak assessment of the American personal life in the last two decades of the twentieth century.

Putnam documents a remarkable period between World War II and the 1980s in which American voter participation was high, along with participation in religious, charitable, social, and talent-related groups. Work-related group membership was strong in unions, for example, and volunteering and philanthropy flourished. "Americans felt an increased confidence in their neighbors" with as high as 77 percent reporting in surveys that "most people can be trusted" (Putnam, 2000, p. 17). This was a time, according to Putnam, of high civic virtue, which refers to the trustworthiness and reciprocity that can come with high social capital. Putnam points out, however, that high social capital without civic virtue can lead to evils like Nazi Germany, ruthless self-interest, and exploitation; social capital and civic virtue are two related but not identical concepts.

By 1987, however, 77 percent of the surveyed public said that the United States was on the wrong track and that the nation was "worse off because of less involvement in community activities" (Putnam, p. 25). "Without at first noticing, we have been pulled apart from one another and from our communities over the last third of the century" (Putnam, p. 27). In his ambitious book, Putnam gives several reasons for this decline in social capital. Major factors include television and the electronic revolution, suburbanization and sprawl, economic hard times, busyness and time pressures related to work in particular, and the stresses and pressures on two-career families.

Solutions

Putnam's solutions to this apparent lack of social cohesion involve individual and group initiatives to improve community cohesion. He calls for a national dialog about the decline of American life and a commitment by individuals to turn off their computers and begin participating in political, civic, social, and educational organizations again. Certainly this brief summary does not do justice to the extensive analysis offered in Putnam's book. On the other hand, it should provide the reader with some insights into why residential patterns are of importance to the quality of life of the individual and group as a whole.

Terms & Concepts

Custom: A habitual practice; the usual way of acting in given circumstances.

Customary: According to or depending on custom; usual; habitual.

Filial: Noting or having the relation of a child to a parent.

Matrilocality: Custom in which newlyweds reside with the wife's extended family.

Neolocality: Custom in which newlyweds establish a new or separate residence.

Normative: A standard, model, or pattern.

Patrilocality: Custom in which newlyweds reside with the husband's extended family.

Piety: Dutiful respect or regard for a parent, homeland, etc.

Bibliography

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Fong, E., & Chan, E. (2011). Residential patterns among religious groups in Canadian cities. City and Community, 10, 393–413. Retrieved November 1, 2013 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=69604581

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Hao, L., & Fong, E. (2004, September). Understanding residential patterns in multiethnic cities and suburbs in U.S. and Canada. Paper presented at the Population Association of America. Retrieved January 27, 2009, from http://paa2005.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=50712

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Iceland, J., Sharpe, C., & Steinmetz, E. (2003, May). Class differences in African American residential patterns in U. S. metropolitan areas. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Minneapolis, MN. Retrieved January 27, 2009, from http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/housing%5fpatterns/pdf/paa%5feconseg. .pdf

Iceland, J., & Sharp, G. (2013). White residential segregation in US metropolitan areas: conceptual issues, patterns, and trends from the US Census, 1980 to 2010. Population Research and Policy Review, 32, 663–686. Retrieved November 1, 2013 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=90429475

Kobrin, F. (1981). Family extension and the elderly: Economic, demographic, and family cycle factors. Journal of Gerontology 36, 370-77.

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Mutran, E. (1985). Intergenerational family support among blacks and whites: Response to culture or to socioeconomic differences? Journal of Gerontology, 40, 382-389.

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Suggested Reading

Bratt, R., Stone, M., Hartman, C. (Eds.), (2006). A right to housing: Foundation for a new social agenda. Philadelphia, PA: Temple UP.

Duncan, S., Phillips, M., Carter, J., Roseneil, S., & Stoilova, M. (2014). Practices and perceptions of living apart together. Family Science, 5, 1–10. Retrieved January 20, 2015, from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=99143593&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Johnston, R. Urban residential patterns: An Introductory Review. New York: Praeger.

McCamant, K., Durett, C., Hetzman, E. (1993). Co-housing: A contemporary approach to housing ourselves. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.

Multhauf, C, Multhauf, L., Matlin, T., & Young, S. (2007). Generational housing: Myth or mastery. Rancho Santa Fe, CA: Training and Broker Services.

Perez, J. (2012). Residential patterns and an overview of segregation and discrimination in the greater Washington, DC, metropolitan region. Research in Race and Ethnic Relations, 17, 111–131. Retrieved November 1, 2013 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=83112125

Somerville, P. (2005). Housing and social policy: Contemporary themes and critical perspectives. New York: Routledge.

Wann, C. (2005). Reinventing community: Stories from the walkways of cohousing. Golden, Co: Fulcrum.