Economic Development and the Family Structure: from the Pater Familias to the Nuclear Family

Abstract

We provide a theory that is able to account for the observed comovement between the shift in intergenerational living arrangements from coresidence to non-coresidence and economic development. Our theory is consistent with the diminution in the status of the elderly documented by some sociologists. The results from our analysis show that, when technical progress is fast enough, the economy experiences a shift from stagnation to growth, there is a transition from coresidence to non-coresidence, and the social status of the elderly tends to deteriorate.Unified Growth Theory, Intergenerational Living Arrangements, Bargaining Power, Family Economics