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Historic Rise of Living Alone and Fall of Boarders in the United States: 1850-2010
Historic Rise of Living Alone and Fall of Boarders in the United States: 1850-2010
Working Paper Number SEHSD-WP2015-11
Introduction
While living alone has risen to historic highs in the United States, the prevalence of living with roommates, boarders and other nonrelatives has fallen. This historic transformation in living arrangements reflects a growing prevalence across the 20th century for adults, notably the young and unmarried, to live apart from family members and outside of boarding houses. Thus, the rise of living alone is directly linked with the decline of roommates and boarders in the United States. To explore this relationship, we use Integrated Public Use Microdata Samples (IPUMS) of decennial census data for 1850–2000 (Ruggles et al. 2010), and 2010 Census data. We use multinomial logistic regression to examine the changing risks of living alone, with relatives, or with nonrelatives only since 1850.
Related Information
WORKING PAPER
Families and Households Working Papers
Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021
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