The global living arrangements database, 1960-2021

This paper introduces the Global Living Arrangements Database (GLAD), a global resource designed to fill a critical gap in the availability of statistical information for examining patterns and changes in living arrangements by age, sex, marital status and educational attainment. Utilizing comprehensive census microdata from IPUMS International and the European Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS), GLAD summarizes over 740 million individual records across 107 countries, covering the period from 1960 to 2021. This database has been constructed using an innovative algorithm that reconstructs kinship relationships among all household members, providing a robust and scalable methodology for studying living arrangements. GLAD is expected to be a valuable resource for both researchers and policymakers, supporting evidence-based decision-making in areas such as housing, social services, and healthcare, as well as offering insights into long-term transformations in family structures. The open-source R code used in this project is publicly available, promoting transparency and enabling the creation of new ego-centred typologies based in interfamily relationships.