Young Adults’ Coresidence with Parents and Time Use in South Korea

Previous studies indicate that young adults who live with their parents are less likely to marry because of the financial and temporal benefits of coresidence with parents. Drawing on the 2019 Korean Time Use Study, we empirically confirm this line of argument by examining whether coresidence with parents is associated with the amount of time that unmarried young adults spend on major daily activities, such as personal care, studying, working, housework, and leisure. We also investigate whether this association could differ according to gender. Our analysis reveals that young adults living with parents allocate more time to personal care and leisure activities, and less time to housework than do those living alone. In addition, the findings suggest that compared with women who coreside with their parents, coresident men spend less time on housework and more time on leisure. Our results support the argument that the temporal benefits of coresidence are more pronounced for men in terms of leisure, while women continue to bear greater responsibility for domestic work.