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Changes in Household Living Arrangements 1950-76

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  • Robert T. Michael
  • Victor R. Fuchs
  • Sharon R. Scott

Abstract

The growth in single-person households is a pervasive behavioral phenomenon in the United States in the post-war period. In this paper we investigate determinants of the propensity to live alone, using 1970 data across states for single men and women ages 25 to 34 and for elderly widows. Income level appears to be a major determinant of the propensity to live alone. The estimated cross-state equations track about three-quarters of the increase in the propensity to live alone between 1950-1976 and suggest that income growth has been the principal identified influence. Other variables found to affect (positively) the propensity to live alone include mobility, schooling level, and for young people a measure of social climate; non-whites appear to have a somewhat lower propensity to live alone.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert T. Michael & Victor R. Fuchs & Sharon R. Scott, 1980. "Changes in Household Living Arrangements 1950-76," NBER Working Papers 0262, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:0262
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Victor R. Fuchs & Robert T. Michael & Sharon R. Scott, 1979. "A State Price Index," NBER Working Papers 0320, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Becker, Gary S & Landes, Elisabeth M & Michael, Robert T, 1977. "An Economic Analysis of Marital Instability," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(6), pages 1141-1187, December.
    3. Frances Kobrin, 1976. "The fall in household size and the rise of the primary individual in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 13(1), pages 127-138, February.
    4. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "A Theory of Marriage," NBER Chapters, in: Economics of the Family: Marriage, Children, and Human Capital, pages 299-351, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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