Asia is home to approximately 60% of the world’s population, making it the most populous region on earth. Over the past several decades, Asian societies have undergone profound and rapid socioeconomic transformations, encompassing industrialization, urbanization, and modernization. These changes have driven significant demographic shifts, including declining fertility and population ageing, and have fundamentally reshaped household structures and living arrangements.

Existing research has rarely provided a comprehensive examination of household and living arrangements across the whole Asian region. Drawing on rich, multi-source data, including the CORESIDENCE Database, The Global Living Arrangements Database from the CORESIDENCE project, microdata from Integrated Public Use Microdata Series International, and regional data from official statistical sources, this dissertation examines households and living arrangements in Asia across three analytical dimensions: (1) living arrangements in global context, (2) cross-national household variation within the region, and (3) an in-depth country-level examination of older adults’ living arrangements in Vietnam.

A comparison with other regions in the world reveals that Asian societies share several broad patterns: elevated diversity in living arrangements and pronounced gender differences during young adulthood and old age, the dominance of the nuclear family, and a growing prevalence of independent arrangements such as living with a partner only. However, Asia stands out for the persistence of extended living arrangements and for the comparatively smaller gender differences in living arrangements during midlife.

Across Asian societies, households exhibit both heterogeneity and homogeneity. In terms of household size, the distribution spans a wide range, yet a general declining trend is observed over time, from different starting points and at varying speeds. Household structure does not follow a uniform trajectory: extended arrangements have increased in some societies but declined in others, yet they maintain a notable presence across the region. Population ageing within households is also increasingly evident across most societies. Change is more pronounced in relatively developed regions, while less developed and more culturally conservative areas have changed more slowly.

The Vietnam case study further reveals that both individual socioeconomic characteristics and regional context shape living arrangements among older adults. Those employed in the non-primary sector and with higher educational attainment are more likely to live independently, while older adults belonging to ethnic minority groups with stronger traditional cultural ties show a lower likelihood of independent living. At the regional level, higher homeownership rates and better housing quality are associated with greater residential independence.

This dissertation documents the transformation of households and living arrangements in Asia, a region characterized by multiple family systems and rapid modernization over the past five decades. Traditional extended family arrangements remain common, sustained by both economic necessity and culturally embedded norms of intergenerational solidarity. At the same time, new patterns are emerging alongside urbanization, migration, and the spread of individualism. This coexistence of continuity and change challenges Goode’s modernization theory, which predicted a universal convergence toward the nuclear family.