FINANCIAL TRANSFERS FROM PARENTS TO ADULT CHILDREN

This paper uses 1996-2014 longitudinal HRS data to establish the relative importance of intervivos transfers, bequests and coresidency in the United States. We Önd that when computing
the relative importance of intervivos transfers versus bequests, the aggregate perspective that
pools all data into a single cross-section is very di§erent than the parent-level longitudinal perspective, highlighting the special value of panel data. This di§erence reáects the fact that large
bequests are highly concentrated and play an ináuential role at the aggregate level, while at
the micro parent-level, intervivos transfers constitute the main form of Önancial support for
most parents. Regarding coresidency, we Önd that although older children and parents tend to
coreside when the child is helping the parent, coresidency tends to be more prevalent among
poorer, younger parents and their children. Children who ever coreside with parents also receive
larger total intervivos transfers.