from Mediapost:
In 1940, about a quarter of the population lived in an extended family household one; by 1980, just 12% did, says the study. A range of demographic factors contributed to this decline, including the rapid growth of the nuclear-family-centered suburbs; the decline in the share of immigrants in the population; and the sharp rise in the health and economic well-being of adults ages 65 and older.
The multi-generational American family household is staging a comeback, driven in part by the job losses and home foreclosures of recent years but more so by demographic changes that have been gathering steam for decades.
Key findings about multi-generational family households and living arrangements of older adults:
- In 2008, an estimated 49 million Americans, or 16% of the total U.S. population, lived in a family household that contained at least two adult generations or a grandparent and at least one other generation. In 1980, this figure was just 28 million, or 12% of the population
- This 33% increase since 1980 in the share of all Americans living in such households represents a sharp trend reversal. From 1940 to 1980, the share of Americans living in such households had declined by more than half (from 25% in 1940 to 12% in 1980)
- The growth since 1980 in these multi-generational households is partly the result of demographic and cultural shifts, including the rising share of immigrants in the population and the rising median age of first marriage of all adults
- At a time of high unemployment and a rising foreclosures, the number of households in which multiple generations of the same family double up under the same roof has spiked significantly. From 2007 to 2008, the number of Americans living in a multi-generational family household grew by 2.6 million
- About one in five adults ages 25 to 34 now live in a multi-generational household. So do one-in-five adults ages 65 and older.
- The share of adults ages 65 and older who live alone flattened out around 1990 and has since declined a bit. It currently stands at 27, up from 6% in 1900
Of the 49 million Americans living in a multi-generational family household, 47% live in a household made up of two adult generations of the same family (with the youngest adult at least 25 years of age); another 47% live in a household with three or more generations of family members; and 6% are in a "skipped" generation household made up of a grandparent and grandchild, but no parent.
| Share of U.S. Population Living in Multi-Generational Family Households | |
| Year | Share of Population |
| 1940 | 24.7% |
| 1960 | 15.0 |
| 1980 | 12.1 |
| 2000 | 15.1 |
| 2010 | 16.1 |
| Source: Pew Research, U.S. Census, American Community Surveys, March 2010 | |
Since bottoming out around 1980, however, the multi-generational family household has mounted a comeback. One reason for the reversal, says the report, is the change in the median age of first marriage. The typical man now marries for the first time at age 28 and the typical women at age 26. For both genders, this is about five years older than it was in 1970. A byproduct of this cultural shift is that there are more unmarried 20-somethings in the population, many of whom consider their childhood home to be an attractive living situation, especially when a bad economy makes it difficult for them to find jobs or launch careers.
Another factor has been the big wave of immigration, dominated by Latin Americans and Asians, that began around 1970. Like their European counterparts from earlier centuries, these modern immigrants are far more inclined than native-born Americans to live in multi-generational family households. The move into multi-generational family households has accelerated during the Great Recession that began at the end of 2007. From 2007 to 2008, the share of adults ages 25 to 34 living in such households rose by a full percentage point, from 18.7% to 19.8%.
Older adults were once by far the likeliest of any age group to live in a multi-generational family household. In 1900, fully 57% of adults ages 65 and older did so. In 1990, just 17% of those ages 65 and older lived in a multi-generational family household, and since then, the trend has reversed and the share has risen to 20%.
One possible explanation, the report finds, for the recent trend reversal is "kin availability." Compared with earlier generations, the Baby Boom generation offers its elderly parents about 50% more grown children with whom they can share a household if and when widowhood, declining health or poverty, etc., take them in that direction. And, cuts to Medicare enacted in 1997 have increased the financial incentives for those who are elderly and infirm to move in with a grown child who is able to take on the role of informal caregiver.
A separate Pew Research survey taken in 2005 found that 56% of the public considers it a "family responsibility" for adult children to take into their home an elderly parent who wants to live with them.
Young adults, though, are the age group most responsible for the overall trend reversal since 1980, especially those ages 25 to 34. In 1980, just 11% of adults in this age group lived in a multi-generational family household.
According to the report, as of 2009 some 37% of 18- to-29-year-olds were either unemployed or out of the workforce, the highest share among this age group in nearly four decades. In addition, among 22- to 29-years-olds, one-in-eight say that, because of the recession, they have boomeranged back to live with their parents after being on their own.
For more details from this study, including expanded topics on gender, race and ethnicity, types of multi-generational family households, and living alone, please visit Pew Research here.
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