BACKGROUND
The spatial distance between children and parents substantially influences their lives, yet empirical evidence on life course patterns of child–parent proximity is sparse.

OBJECTIVE
The goal of this study is to identify salient features of child–parent spatial distance across the life course and explain differences by race in these features in the United States.

METHODS
Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this study examines the spatial distance between residential locations of children and their mothers over 47 years (166,098 person-year observations). Point-in-time, dynamic, and multi-state life table analyses of spatial distance are conducted using location measured at the block level. Differences between Black and White people are assessed, examining various explanatory factors, including life course events.

RESULTS
Living very close is common across the life course, with 25% of life-years during ages 18–54 spent within five miles of, but not with, one’s mother. Children who are Black are much more likely than children who are White to live close to their mother if she is alive, but mothers of Black children are much less likely to be alive, especially when children are middle-aged. Observed sociodemographic characteristics of the child and mother account for a substantial share – and in some cases all – of the racial differences.

CONCLUSIONS
Very close residential proximity to one’s mother beyond coresidence is common across the life course even in the geographically large United States. Racial differences in mortality affect differences between Black and White people in family spatial availability.



中文翻译：

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在美国的生命历程中与母亲的亲近：总体模式和种族差异（HwaJung Choi、Robert Schoeni、Hongwei Xu、Adriana Reyes、Deena Thomas）

背景
儿童与父母之间的空间距离对他们的生活产生重大影响，但关于儿童与父母亲近的生命历程模式的经验证据很少。

目的
这项研究的目的是确定亲子空间距离的显着特点在整个生命过程，并解释在美国，这些功能由种族差异。

方法
本研究使用收入动态小组研究，检查了 47 岁以上儿童与其母亲居住地点之间的空间距离（166,098 人年观察）。空间距离的时间点、动态和多状态生命表分析是使用在块级别测量的位置进行的。评估黑人和白人之间的差异，检查各种解释因素，包括生命历程事件。

结果
非常接近的生活在整个生命过程中很常见，在 18-54 岁的人一生中有 25% 的时间是在离母亲 5 英里的范围内度过的，但不是与母亲在一起。如果母亲还活着，黑人儿童比白人儿童更有可能与母亲住得更近，但黑人儿童的母亲活着的可能性要小得多，尤其是在儿童中年时。观察到的孩子和母亲的社会人口特征占种族差异的很大一部分——在某些情况下是全部。

结论
即使在地理上很大的美国，在整个生命过程中，与母亲非常接近的居住距离在同居之外也很常见。死亡率的种族差异会影响黑人和白人在家庭空间可用性方面的差异。