Dynamics of Elderly Mexican American Living Arrangements

Kate C. Prickett, University of Texas at Austin
Jacqueline L. Angel, University of Texas at Austin

Recent trends in Hispanic aging point to the greater importance of family support. Scant research, however, has adequately determined the characteristics associated with the pace of moving in with family as the population rapidly enters a period of frailty. This study examines the transition from living alone to family among older unmarried people of Mexican descent in the United States. Using panel data from the Hispanic-EPESE, event history analyses reveal age, nativity, and physical and cognitive disability are strong predictors of transitions to family living arrangements. Net of disability, the U.S. born transition less and later to family co-residence than the foreign born. In addition, this transition increases the likelihood of mortality, suggesting that this transition occurs when individuals report their most compromised functional capacity. The findings underscore the role that nativity plays in predicting family support over the very late-life course for older Mexican Americans in the United States.