The living arrangement of the elderly is an important issue affecting the quality of life and wellbeing of the elderly. Influenced by the 〖JP2〗filial piety culture, children’s filial piety plays a crucial role in the elderly’s〖JP〗 decisions regarding their living arrangements. However, little is known about the role of filial attitudes. This study aims to explore the underlying mechanisms influencing the elderly’s decision-making behaviors within the filial piety culture by examining the effects of children’s unobservable filial attitudes on the elderly’s choice of living arrangements. Utilizing data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, an integrated choice and latent variable model is developed, which simultaneously incorporates the unobservable filial attitudes of children, the observable children’s filial enactments, as well as the sociodemographic characteristics and health status of the elderly into an integrated framework. This model enhances the explanatory capability towards the choice behavior of the elderly’s living arrangement. The results reveal the heterogeneity in the filial attitudes of children with different socio-economic attributes, demonstrating that both children’s filial attitudes and their filial behaviors have a significant impact on the living arrangement of the elderly. These findings are expected to provide implications for administrators to enhance the wellbeing of the elderly.