In today's New York Times there's an article about multigenerational households. That's where grandparent, child, and grandchild all live under the same roof.
This generally remains a living arrangement for the poor. The rich will buy their children their own place because the rich understand that there is a big loss of status when young adults live with their parents and they don't want their children to sink in status.
There are several converging trends causing the increase in multigenerational households.
(1) Immigration. Immigrants from Latin American and Asian countries don't realize that multigenerational households aren't the American way.
(2) Increasing out-of-wedlock births. It's the norm for black children to be born without their mother being married, but this trend has also become common for white women. "Births to unwed white mothers were 22.5 percent in 2001, compared to 2.3 percent in 1960." (Source: WaPo article). Single mothers need more help from parents and have less resources available to live on their own.
(3) The declining economic status of young people. Even when women are married, a young husband can't provide as well as he used to. The median real income of young men has been declining. Yet if you look at this U.S. census table, you will see that the median price of a "home" has risen by a huge amount. In year 2000 dollars, in 1960 the median home cost $58,600, and that rose to $119,600 in 2000, an increase of 104%. (Unadjusted for inflation the home in 1960 was only $11,900--damn that's cheap!) The 104% rise in the median home price doesn't even take into account the big rise in housing prices since 2000.
Rising home prices represent a big transfer of wealth from the young to the old, because the average homeowner is older than the average non-homeowner, so the older generation grows richer because of its home ownership while the younger generation has no capital appreciation but faces declining incomes.
The rich will buy their children their own place because the rich understand that there is a big loss of status when young adults live with their parents and they don't want their children to sink in status.
I agree that multi-generational households are generally a living arrangement for the poor. But I do think that your rationale to explain that is rather short of reality.
Consider also that the multi-generational household -
... is a common practice in many cultures.
... may be caused by economic factors - such as inability to pay for institutional care.
... and in NZ at least, there are probably only 2% or 3% of families who might be able to buy houses for their children's families and only a small proportion of those who actually so do. In NZ, house ownership is about 75% (75% live in a house that they own) I believe.
Posted by: probligo | May 25, 2006 at 02:36 PM
A sizeable percentage of young people buying houses today are receiving monetary help from their parents. So they may be the owner of the house, but they didn't necessarily pay for it with their own earnings.
Posted by: Half Sigma | May 25, 2006 at 03:34 PM
No matter the reason for multigenerational households, I think it's a trend that may prove beneficial for our culture (and I'm not talking about financial benefits). Ours is one of the few cultures in the world that think it necessary to kick our grown children into the street once they are out of school.
However, in order for such an arrangment to work, both adult parites must be willing to and capable of changing old habits and opinions. Parents cannot tell their adult children how to live their lives and adult children cannot treat their parents like children. It is necessary for all parties (including the children) to honor one another. This means adults must be able to honor the children as well.
The blessings of such an arrangment can far outweigh the difficulties when all parties approach the arrangment from a place of gratitude and joyful anticipation. Even though an adult child may in fact be caring for a parent, that parent's usefulness hasn't necessarily ceased to exist.
A return to the old way can be exciting, enlightening, and fun. I personally would like to see more families try it. I for one am enjoying the hell out of it and am hoping this experiences continues for decades to come.
Posted by: chayuta | September 14, 2006 at 11:54 PM