Researchers at Pew Research Center published a social and demographic trends report that focuses on the major challenges families face in their housing living arrangements during the latest economic recession. Working with census bureau data, Pew found that 16% of the total U.S. population (49 million) live in family households that contain two generations of adults. This is increase of 20 million people from 1980, which represents a sharp reversal of a longstanding trend.
Focusing on the living arrangements of older adults, the report found that the long-term increase in the proportion of older adults living alone has flattened. From 1900 to 1990, the number went from 6% to 27% of older adults. Currently, this number is roughly the same. Furthermore, Pew found that older adults who live alone are less healthy and more likely to experience depression than those who live with others.
There are two factors driving the movement back toward a multigenerational household. First, immigration patterns have driven a big chunk of this change. Second, the recession has made it much more difficult for older adults who formerly lived alone or with a spouse to maintain a single dwelling (and sometimes their children, too).
For more information, visit http://pewsocialtrends.org/assets/pdf/752-multi-generational-families.pdf
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