Does Living with Kin Support Single Mother's Employment? a Comparative Study

Background and Purpose: Single motherhood has risen globally, with increases observed across Europe, the US, and Latin America, where many single women now live with extended family to mitigate economic vulnerability and balance caregiving with breadwinning responsibilities. This arrangement supports single mothers by reducing childcare burdens and household costs and provides social and economic security for aging relatives. Despite its prevalence—with at least half of the world’s single mothers co-residing with relatives (UN Women, 2019)—the role of kin coresidence in shaping single mothers’ employment remains understudied. Existing research in Latin America tends to focus on labor force participation and hours worked, often overlooking broader employment conditions, leaving key gaps in understanding how household structures influence labor market outcomes. This study addresses these gaps by examining whether and how kin coresidence affects Latin American single mothers’ employment and job conditions.

Methods: We use data from the Luxembourg Income Study for the years 2017-2023 (waves X–XII) to analyze if and how kin coresidence influences single mother’s employment in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. The analysis has two components. First, we use descriptive statistics to compare employment rates and conditions across household types and countries, including average weekly hours, part-time status, informal work, and multiple job holding. Second, we estimate multivariate regression models to assess the association between kin coresidence and two outcomes: employment status and part-time work. The key independent variable is kin coresidence, defined by household composition.

Results: Findings show that among single mothers, living with kin is most prevalent in Mexico (54%) and least common in Brazil and Paraguay (18%), with notable variation across Latin America. Kin coresidence is consistently associated with lower employment rates, with the strongest negative effects observed in Uruguay, Colombia, and Paraguay, where single mothers living with relatives are 14–16 percentage points less likely to be employed. Despite this, employed single mothers living with kin often experience better job conditions. In Brazil and Uruguay, for example, those living without kin are more likely to work part-time, suggesting that kin may facilitate full-time employment. In contrast, single mothers without kin support are more likely to be employed but under more precarious conditions, such as temporary, informal, or multiple jobs—especially in Paraguay and Peru.

Conclusions and Implications: Results demonstrate that those living solely with their children are more likely to be employed, but often in unstable jobs, such as part-time or temporary positions, compared to those residing with relatives. Thus, kin coresidence appears to support more stable job opportunities across countries. However, countries vary in how common these living arrangements are and in the characteristics of mothers in them. Our study also suggests that national economic and institutional conditions shape single mothers’ employment patterns, influencing access to stable work and reliance on family support. These insights underline the connection between family and household structure and labor market engagement, suggesting that policies aimed at improving employment conditions for single mothers are crucial for their financial security and their children’s economic well-being.