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While many elderly whites in the US live in nuclear families, elderly minorities are more likely to live in extended families. The prevalence of extended families among elderly minorities is often explained in terms of cultural characteristics of ethnic minorities. Using the 1990 US census, we examine family living arrangements and headship among elderly Asian Americans and non-Hispanic whites. Headship is included to distinguish the intergenerational relationship within families. Results show that elderly Asian Americans are more likely than elderly whites to live in extended families, either as a head or in the household of another family member. In addition, the effects of some economic and cultural factors are different for each racial group. We suggest that extended family living among elderly Asian Americans is a result of more than cultural preferences but also reflects their strategic adjustments in American society.

Abstract  This study aims to explain similarity and difference in geographic proximity between elderly parents and their children in Korea and Japan. Using data sets from two nationally representative surveys conducted in Korea and Japan, this study examines the extent to which needs and kinship of elderly parents and regional constraints influence intergenerational coresidence and nearness.Results highlight a complex feature of intergenerational relationship in Korea and Japan. Advanced economic and health conditions of Korean elderly parents increase the likelihood of living with children. For Japanese elderly parents, however, coresidence with children is significantly likely to occur in response to their disadvantaged economic status. These results suggest that the elderly Korean are more likely than the elderly Japanese to lack not only economic and health resources but also opportunities in obtaining family support in a time of need.Characteristics of children, however, show a similar trend between the two societies. Both societies maintain a strong son preference for extended family living arrangement. Eldest children in both societies are more likely than their siblings to live with or near elderly parents. However, children of younger cohorts in both societies are significantly more likely than those of older cohorts to maintain a disperse geographic network indicating a significant change in family attitude among different cohorts.Finally, this study finds a more disperse family network among rural elderly parents than urban elderly parents in both societies reflecting the fact that massive rural‐to‐urban migration of young population has contributed to geographic segregation of kinship in these societies.