Multigenerational Homes Surge in U.S.

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-30/grandma-bunks-with-jobless-kids-as-multigenerational-homes-surge.html

When advertising executive John Gallegos wanted to promote a new package of Spanish-language channels for client Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), he put together a spot featuring the fictional Gutierrez clan gathered around television sets in their home.

A smiling grandfather hands out popcorn in the ad. Gutierrez women weep along with a soap opera. A younger family member looks up words in a Spanish-English dictionary. And everyone shouts when a little girl tries to change the channel during a soccer match.

“It’s a snapshot of all the different extensions of what a Hispanic family could be,” Gallegos, chief executive of Grupo Gallegos in Huntington Beach, California, said in an interview.

The U.S. is experiencing a surge in the multigenerational households that were once a common feature of American life, and Hispanic and Asian families are driving the trend, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released this month. The number of such households, defined as those with three or more generations living under one roof, grew to almost 5.1 million in 2010, a 30 percent increase from 3.9 million in 2000, the data show.

[dkf]

1. This is how my grandparents retired in comfort.

I think this is a great trend.

[HockeyMom]

2. How it used to be when I was kid (born 1948)

My Grandma and Great-Grandma in her 90s lived with me. It was a wonderful experience for a child growing up to live with so many generations of their family. No, we weren't Hispanic either.

[DesertFlower]

11. i was born in '41 -- 2 months before pearl harbor.

my dad and most of my uncles served. we lived with my grandparents and so did my uncles when they came back from war. don't know how we all fit in a 6 room apartment. we were finally able to get our own apartment when i was around 5 or 6, but it was just 5 houses away from my grandparents.

[Romulox]

3. Hooray for reduced standards of living!!!! nt

[MineralMan]

6. Why do you assume a reduced standard of living in these situations?

It's not necessarily the case. Can you explain?

[Romulox]

7. Gimme a break. Look up the numbers on unemployment for recent grads.

As a young person, it was an absolute mark of pride for me to be able to move out on my own. You think children today lack that notion, or do you think that the crippling unemployment amongst their ranks is influencing this trend?

:eyes:

[MineralMan]

9. Our move away from multi-generational homes isn't completely

dependent on economics. There are many other factors.

[Romulox]

16. LOL. nt

[Viva_La_Revolution]

10. It's been a FALSE mark of pride..

and it's only been 'the norm' for less than 100 years, out of all of human history.

[Romulox]

15. That's a separate argument. It's still dishonest to pretend dismal economic prospects drive

these trends.

[itsrobert]

4. As long as the home and parking are large enough to accomodate

I see no problems.

The problem arises when you have 6 cars squeeze into a 2 car driveway while the garage has been turned into a bedroom. But as the article says, if they are building these homes to accommodate than it's a good idea.

[demigoddess]

18. that was our neighborhood in the last recession

it is also happening lately.

[yellerpup]

5. The compassionate support system of the extended

family is evident in the village where I live. The village was established in 1698 and most of the old homes in the area were built to accommodate large families in a time before nursing homes were invented and when teenage pregnancy was standard. The families stayed together and the housing sheltered mom, pop, granny & gramps, aunties and orphans all together. Young mothers had loving hands of their mothers, sisters, and aunts to help raise their children. Corporations, imo, are most responsible for the bust-up of the nuclear family by 'transferring' workers far away from their traditional safety nets and making them more reliant on the company.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

8. 4 generation-house here!

Gram
VivaDaddy
Me
2 adult sons
and when the grandson visits.. 5!

We're all doing SO MUCH better than we possibly could each on our own. Gram needs 24 hour care, Dad got laid off years ago and had to apply for early SS, there has been almost 0 work for the other 3 of us (construction).

If you can stand your family, I highly recommend it. :)

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. I would not be surprised if the kids have to keep on living with us once they are grown.

[bhikkhu]

13. In the long-term, that's the best way

...as far as passing on living skills from one generation to the next, and more importantly moderating the behaviors of all involved. "Lone wolves" out in the world have little need to moderate their behaviors out of respect for anyone, but if you are living in an extended household it is essential. I've always figured that the "old" habits of respect, moderation, and restraint (which have lost all value in our nuclear-family consumer culture) are exactly what allowed people to get along with each other under the same roof in the past.

[greenman3610]

14. too many people have bought into the idea

that if you ain't livin in a mac-mansion a thousand miles from your home town, you
never "made it".

yeah, I get it, its a symptom of tough economic times. But asian and hispanic folk know that
tight families help you weather tough times like this.
tight families can help people get away from feeling so alone, vulnerable and
fearful.

[markpkessinger]

17. While the causes of this trand are extremely troubling ...

... a shift towards a (very slightly) earlier model of family living accommodations where multiple generations live together under one roof is, in itself, Not A Bad Thing. I was born in 1961, and as a kid and probably well into the 1970s, there were probably more households in this country who had an elderly grandparent, or even aunt or uncle, living with the family than there were those that did not. In my case, my grandmother did not live with us, exactly -- she slept every night in her own home about a mile away -- she spent virtually six days a week with us. Dad would pick her up in the morning, and take her home sometime after dinner. Dad had a retail propane and appliance business, with the store in the front part of the building in which we lived, so my grandmother would often mind the store if Dad was out on the road or otherwise occupied. When my Dad was growing up (in the very same house), they had one of his grandmothers and a great uncle living with the family in their later years. I think it is a much healthier model than simply shipping grandma off to a nursing home or assisted living facility (unless, of course, that's what grandma wants).

[Skittles]

19. I do not want to live with my relatives

but to each their own