Single mothers are a growing population in Europe. They may receive public support from the welfare state and kin support from family members, such as their own parents. Indeed, parents often help with practical tasks, childminding, emotional troubles, and sometimes also financial problems. Another type of support is living under one roof (‘doubling up’ or ‘multigenerational coresidence’). Many researchers believe that this type of support is rare in modern Europe, as the welfare state provides basic economic security to single mothers. Because of this belief, European surveys rarely ask about multigenerational coresidence.
In their study, Bram Hogendoorn (Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute) and Juho Härkönen (European University Institute) examine whether multigenerational coresidence among single mothers in Europe is really that rare. To do so, they combined data from large-scale surveys and censuses. Extra care was taken to make sure that the data were representative and not distorted by different sampling periods and procedures. The authors focused on women aged 25-50 without a coresident partner (‘single mothers’). They then described whether single mothers lived with at least one of their own parents or whether they were in a different living arrangement.
The findings show large geographic differences. Multigenerational coresidence is a rare and temporary living arrangement for single mothers in Northern and Western Europe, more common and longer-lived for single mothers in Central and Southern Europe, and widespread and stable for single mothers in Eastern Europe. The figures for Eastern Europe even exceed those of several East Asian countries and come close to those of Latin America. Moreover, the differences between European regions have persisted despite the strong decrease in multigenerational coresidence over the past half-century.
The findings reflect variation in both welfare states and family cultures across Europe. In Northern and Western Europe, a welfare state that allows single mothers to live independently aligns with a cultural preference for autonomy in adulthood. In contrast, intergenerational obligations in Southern, Central and Eastern Europe remain stronger throughout the life course. Less extensive welfare states, as well as the cultural celebration of family life, make multigenerational coresidence a necessary and acceptable strategy for single mothers to deal with their needs.