In the United States, older people rarely live with their adult children. But in many other cultures children are expected to care for (1) . In some parts of Italy, the percentage of adult children who reside with their parents (2) . In Thailand, too, children are expected to care for their elderly parents; few Thai elderly (3) .
What explains these differences in (4) across cultures Modernization theory linked (5) household to low levels of economic development. In (6) , the elderly live with their children in large extended family units (7) . But with modernization, children move to urban areas, leaving old people behind in (8) . Yet modernization theory can’t explain why extended family households (9) in the United States or England, or why families in Italy, which is (10) , maintain a strong tradition of intergenerational living. Clearly, economic development alone cannot explain (11) living arrangements.
Another theory associated intergenerational living arrangements with (12) . In some cultures, the stem family pattern of inheritance predominates. (13) , parents live with a married child, usually the oldest son, who then (14) when they die. The stem family system was once common in Japan, but changes in inheritance laws, (15) broader social changes brought about by (16) and urbanization, have undermined the tradition. In 1960 about 80 percent of Japanese (17) lived with their children; by 1990 only 60 percent did—a figure that is still high by U.S. standards, but which has been (18) . In Korea, too, traditional living arrangements are eroding: (19) who live with a son declined from 77 percent in 1984 to 50 percent (20) .