S13

New living arrangements - Nouveaux arrangements résidentiels

Organiser:

Murphy Michael
Department of Social Policy, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK
Tel: +44 171 955 7661
Fax: +44 171 955 6833
Email: M.Murphy@LSE.AC.UK

Outline:

Introduction
In recent decades, there have been major changes in living arrangements in all developed countries. These include increases in solo living (at all ages and among all population subgroups), reductions in marriage (sometimes offset by increases in cohabitation), and large increases in extra-marital childbearing which have been experienced to a greater or lesser extent among all developed countries. Households have become smaller in average size and less complex in structure. Much smaller proportions of children will now live in an intact family with their natural parents throughout their childhood, and many parents will live apart from their dependent children.

Aims and Objectives

The aim is to elucidate changes in these household and family living arrangements taking place in industrialised countries in recent decades, concentrating on the insights obtained from demographic analysis. The following list of topics is not exhaustive, but indicates the types of areas that could be covered in this session:

to review the current state of knowledge in this area in order to document the main changes over time in these substantive areas, both in an international context and in studies of particular groups and/or countries
to assess the likely implications of these emerging patterns on the life courses of adults and children and on wider aspects of society arising from these developments such as the demand for housing and formal care
to evaluate needs in the development of data sources, classifications, and methodologies in order to help in the interpretation of these trends

to consider whether a single explanation exists for these various trends, and to consider why the process appears to have gone further in some countries than others