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Living Arrangements in Western Europe: Does Cultural Origin Matter?

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  • Giuliano, Paola

    () (University of California, Los Angeles)

Abstract

Why are there such large differences in living arrangements across Western European countries? Conventional economic analyses have not been successful in explaining differences in living arrangements and particularly the dramatic increase in the fraction of young adults living with their parents in Mediterranean Europe. This paper presents a cultural interpretation. I argue that the sexual revolution of the 1970s – by liberalizing parental attitudes – had a differential impact on living arrangements in Northern and Southern Europe on account of the closer parent-child ties in Southern Europe. Such an explanation can easily explain both the shift in living arrangements over time and also observed North-South differentials. It receives support from data on the living arrangements of second-generation immigrants in the US. Both in 1970 and 2000, by country of origin, the US living arrangements of second-generation immigrants mimic those in Europe across countries; similarly the changes in the US across time by country of origin mimic the European changes. This duplication of the European pattern in a neutral environment, with the same unemployment benefits, the same welfare code and the same macroeconomic conditions suggests a major role for culture in determining living arrangements.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 2042.

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Length: 42 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2006
Date of revision:
Publication status: published in: Journal of the European Economic Association, 2007, 5 (5), 927-952
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2042

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Keywords: culture; living arrangements; family; immigrants;

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  1. Raquel Fernandez & Alessandra Fogli, 2005. "Culture: An Empirical Investigation of Beliefs, Work, and Fertility," NBER Working Papers 11268, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  2. Bentolila, S. & Ichino, A., 2000. "Unemployment and Consumption: are Job Losses Less Painful Near the Mediterranean?," Papers 0010, Centro de Estudios Monetarios Y Financieros-.
  3. Neyer, Gerda, 2003. "Family Policies and Low Fertility in Western Europe," Discussion Paper 161, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
  4. Carroll, Christopher D & Rhee, Byung-Kun & Rhee, Changyong, 1994. "Are There Cultural Effects on Saving? Some Cross-Sectional Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(3), pages 685-99, August.
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  7. María Dolores Guilló & Antonia Díaz, 2000. "Family Ties And Unemployment," Working Papers. Serie AD 2000-07, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
  8. Lawrence F. Katz & Claudia Goldin, 2000. "Career and Marriage in the Age of the Pill," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(2), pages 461-465, May.
  9. Akerlof, George A & Yellen, Janet L & Katz, Michael L, 1996. "An Analysis of Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing in the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 111(2), pages 277-317, May.
  10. G. C. Giannelli & C. Monfardini, 2000. "Joint Decisions on Household Membership and Human Capital Accumulation of Youths: The role of expected carnings and labour market rationing," Working Papers 375, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
  11. Gerda R. Neyer, 2003. "Family policies and low fertility in Western Europe," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2003-021, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
  12. Marco Manacorda & Enrico Moretti, 2002. "Intergenerational Transfers and Household Structure. Why Do Most Italian Youths Live With Their Parents?," CEP Discussion Papers dp0536, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
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