Who are two-home people around retirement age? Is this situation transitory or long-lasting?

According to household surveys, some 4% of inhabitants in France ‘usually’ live in more than one dwelling. Previous studies have shown that having more than one “usual” dwelling is the most common among young adults, who have left their parental home but are still “usually living with their parents”. Having two homes regularly increases with age for children, as parental couples experience separation. Very rare around age 30, multiple residence increases up to retirement age for adults, reaching a second mode at ages 55-85.

Focusing on adults, the present paper will describe the family situation and working status of two-home adults. Concerning couples around retirement age, two assumptions will be discussed: first, the case where both members of couples are commuting together between two “usual residences”, the former holiday home becoming a second usual residence. Second, while having more than one home is a transitory situation at younger ages, this situation is more stable around retirement age. These assumptions will be checked using two new French datasets, the “Family and Dwellings” survey, a one percent survey which took place within the 2011 census, and a dataset gathering a collection of household surveys including the same set of questions on multiple residence.