GRAND Magazine - January/February 2017 - 9
grand home
Back to the future at home
BY LORI BITTER
M
ulti-generational living is making a comeback after
a 35-year low. As recently as 1940, about 25% of
Americans lived in a household with two generations
of adults. Many people of the Baby Boom generation recall living
in a home with one or both grandparents, in addition to their
parents. Young women typically remained in the family home
until marriage and sometimes after. The post-war boom and the
development of the suburbs to house the children of the boom
contributed greatly to this style of living falling out of favor.
The idea crept into the public consciousness that grandparents
living in multigenerational households interfered with the running of the households and with the parenting of children. That
9 GRAND
JANUARY FEBRUARY 2017
led to a sentiment that living multi-generationally meant you
weren't as successful financially. This message slammed many
immigrant families whose cultural expectations supported living
together and caring for elders while raising small children. At the
same time, Social Security enabled older people to live with more
financial stability.
By 1980, multigenerational living hit an all-time low of 12% of
the population. Today's current upswing is the result of a number
of factors. A Pew Research Center analysis of census data reveals,
"As of 2008, a record 49 million Americans, or 16.1% of the total
US population lived in a multigenerational household." A 2011
study by Generations United found that approximately one in
Lori Bitter
Publisher of GRAND
and owner of The
Business of Aging
six Americans resides in a multigenerational household - a 10%
jump since the start of the recession.
MetLife's New American Family study reports, "We have seen
an increase in multi-generational households, which tends to
increase in difficult economic times and fall when the economy
improves. The most recent census confirms that in the past 10
years a record number of parents with small children moved into
their parents' homes, creating a three-generation household.
What differs from the three-generation households of the past is
that in most cases the grandparent is the head of household."
Continued on next page
http://www.thebusinessofaging.com/about/lori-bitter/
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine - January/February 2017
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