The relationship between the living arrangements of older people and the demand for and type of housing, the quantity and types of social services, informal support and care, life satisfaction, subjective well-being, and place of death is well-documented. There is a great gender difference. Some studies have examined factors that are associated with living arrangements and overall transitions in terms of resources (e.g., residence, marital status, caregiving resources, socioeconomic status) and needs (e.g., care due to declined physical, cognitive, and emotional functioning). Yet, there is no study that has examined transitions into and out of each type of living arrangement and investigated how long the Chinese elderly are expected to stay in each type of living arrangement for the rest of their lives. Determining the expected years that will be spent in different living arrangements takes on a unique urgency as China prepares for unprecedented numbers of senior citizens, with ever fewer numbers of adult children to care for them. Expected years spent in various living arrangements will help policy makers prepare for the housing and care needs of China’s burgeoning elderly population. By utilizing the multi-state life table method and examining the first three waves of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) from 1998 to 2002, this study aims to investigate gender differences in dynamic transitions in living arrangements and expected years spent in each type of living arrangement for the Chinese oldest-old. Seven categories of living arrangements are distinguished and analyzed: Living alone; living with a spouse only; living with children (two generational families); living with grandchildren (skipped-generation households); living with children, grandchildren, and/or great grandchildren; living with others; and living in institutions. Our results show that men of age 80 have an average life expectancy of 5.94 years, and can expect to spend 0.83 of a year living alone, 1.15 years living with a spouse only, 0.90 of a year living with children in two-generation families, 0.41 of a year living in skipped-generation families, 2.49 years living in multigenerational households, 0.06 of a year living with others, and 0.10 of a year living in institutions. The corresponding percentages of years spent in the seven living arrangements are 14.0%, 19.3%, 15.1%, 6.9%, 41.9%, 1.0%, and 1.8%, respectively. Women, on the other hand, have an average life expectancy of 7.37 years at age 80, and can expect to live in the aforementioned living arrangements for 1.37, 0.41, 1.42, 0.36, 3.60, 0.06, and 0.14 years with the corresponding percentages of 18.6%, 5.6%, 19.3%, 4.9%, 48.9%, 0.8%, and 1.9% respectively. Gender differential patterns in transitions and expected years spent in seven living arrangements by urban/rural residence, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, marital status, number of living children, disability, and cognitive function are also discussed
