Changing Living Arrangements

This paper, reprinted from Demography, v. 24, no. 1, February 1987, analyzes movements among six household types: alone, couple, nuclear, single parent, other family, and other nonfamily. The study uses data from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics, spanning the years 1968-1980. The individuals followed in the survey generated spells analyzed with a multivariate competing risk hazard model. The authors develop a map of the flow among household types and of the economic and demographic profiles of individuals making the transitions. They find wide variability in the stability of household types and marked racial differences in the relative stability and pattern of destination choices.