Population Research Discovery Seminars
The Hidden Private Safety Net: Shared Households and Older Adults’ Housing Costs
Kristin Perkins, Assistant Professor of Sociology & Public Affairs, Georgetown University
Parrington Hall Room 360
To Join By Zoom: Register HERE
Follow this link to sign up for a 1:1 meeting with Dr. Perkins during their visit on February 13th
02/13/2026
12:30-1:30 PM PT
360 Parrington Hall
Co-Sponsor(s):
Where U.S. public supports fall short of need, individuals often turn to the private safety net – instrumental support from family and friends. Although impacts of the public safety net are well-documented, less research considers how the private safety net shapes patterns of hardship. Focusing on the case of older adults’ shared households, this study demonstrates how the provision and receipt of private safety net support shapes housing costs and, ultimately, our understanding of the contours of the housing affordability crisis. Using Survey of Income and Program Participation data, we find that 15% of older adults are hosts, who share their home with others, and 6% are guests, who live in someone else’s home. Counterfactual estimates reveal that guests pay $713 less a month on housing than they would in nonshared housing, and hosts pay $53 more. Without shared households, an additional 5% of older adults would experience cost burdens, and racial disparities would be up to 400% larger. Our findings illustrate that private safety net support is an important component of the U.S. social safety net: taking this support for granted risks obscuring the level of need – and disparities in needs – that are left by the private market.
Kristin L. Perkins is an assistant professor of sociology at Georgetown University. She studies inequality and social stratification focusing on children, families, households, and neighborhoods. Her current work on neighborhood inequality and household composition is united by its common focus on where, and with whom, people live, and she contributes to scholarship in two primary subfields: urban sociology and family demography. Her research has been published in journals including Demography, Social Forces, Sociological Science, Social Science Research, and Urban Affairs Review. She received her PhD in Sociology & Social Policy from Harvard University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.