MULTI-GENERATIONAL HOUSING IN AMERICA: WHEN HUMANS COME HOME TO ROOST
Addressing the stigma of Millenials & Gen Z increasingly living with their parents
YOUNG PEOPLE LIKE ME ARE INCREASINGLY MOVING BACK HOME WITH PARENTS
I was one of the 39% of young millennials (24-29) who asserted that the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic fallout caused me to move home with my parents. An additional 15% say they’re getting rental assistance from their parents to stay in their own homes. In America, 51.4 million Americans live in multi-generational housing, and 52% of people aged 18-29 live with their parents.
THE MILLENNIAL ECONOMIC STRUGGLE
The last time multi-generational housing occurred at this rate was during the Great Depression, when it rose to 48%. With so many people living together across generations, I wondered why there is so much stigma to multi-generational households in America. This idea of moving home with parents or never having moved out is an issue many in my generation have had to grapple with. Between rising prices for basic needs, excessive college debt (on average $38,877 across 14.8 million borrowers), and job losses during a recession and global pandemic, the demand has been undeniable. With the costs of our basic needs outpacing wages, high student debt levels, us being the most likely to receive pay cuts and lose our jobs during the recession have pressured us into uncomfortable living decisions.
MULTI-GENERATIONAL HOUSING AROUND THE WORLD
Answering that question and living that reality has led me to another question. Why is there a stigma against multi-generational living in America? In many nations, it is customary to live with parents as an adult. For instance, more than 77 percent of people over 65 co-resided with their children or extended family in Argentina. In the United States, only 15% of parents live with children or extended families. Yet, multi-generational dwellings are the most common living arrangement for older people in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
So why do other cultures embrace multi-generational living while it is stigmatized in the United States? It’s often due to economics. Shared homes improve affordability by spreading costs across more adults. There are also different cultural values relating to interdependence vs independence and eldercare.
THE PROS AND CONS OF LIVING WITH FAMILY
Multi-generational housing confers obvious benefits:
There are cost savings with more individuals pooling resources, including homes and transportation, and reduced care services for children and elders.
Beyond economic costs, members also save time by sharing household responsibilities.
Potentially strengthened relationships
Increased transfer of knowledge from elders to children
Improved security and child welfare
The downsides of multi-generational housing that often provides the stigma in America include:
The stress of having conflicts over common space
Familial relationship strain from cohabitation
A lack of privacy for intimacy or other desires
Complications of legal property ownership if the property owner wants to move and sell the house but the rest of the family wants to stay.
The implication is that your labor can’t afford another option.
CONCLUSION: IS IT RIGHT FOR YOU? IT WAS RIGHT FOR ME!
In short, there are trade-offs for either living arrangement. But, that said, we should eliminate the shame of multi-generational domiciles in America.
Over the past year, I’ve grappled with the shame of living with my parents. I didn’t feel like I chose but was forced by the times and thought it would prevent the independence needed to socialize as I wish. Things have settled economically, and my relationships have not suffered as I predicted. I am also better off economically than I would have been.
I have also started questioning the stigma. Why should I move out and pay landlords when I can live in a place, and I get to help my parents?
Have a good relationship with your family? Want to save money? Not concerned about privacy from your family? Well then, multi-generational housing may be right for you, just like it was correct for me.