Nearby children, longer lives? Evidence from the Finnish population register

Geographic proximity facilitates contact and support between ageing parents and their adult children. While previous research has examined changes in living arrangements when parents age and become ill, little is known about how proximity to children itself is associated with their health and survival. This study examines how the distance between parents aged 60-85 and their adult children influences parents’ mortality in Finland. Using novel multigenerational data from the Finnish population register, we estimate discrete-time survival models for the associations of co-residence and proximity to children with parental mortality. Co-residence with children is associated with substantially lower mortality risks only among spouseless fathers, while living close to non-coresident children is linked to lower mortality among spouseless mothers and fathers. Children’s gender plays a limited role., However, close proximity to daughters is associated with lower mortality among spouseless mothers. Our findings suggest that living close to children matters for parents’ longevity when there is no spouse to provide support.