According to statistics, multi-generational family housing is making a strong comeback in the United States. Multigenerational housing is when you have 3 or more generations living under the same roof. And it is up across the country.

I do know anecdotally that in my neighborhood, which is full of what some call McMansions, we have about 30 percent of the homes with this living arrangement. Some are homes that have had Grandma or Grandpa come to live and that they have the space, but the majority are grown children coming back to live with Mom and Dad with their children. Fortunately the homes are large enough that there is room to move about for all.

With all of the housing troubles out there one would think that the trend will accelerate as those who have gone through foreclosures and short sales bunk in with family while they get their feet on the ground.

And it’s not just elderly parents who are moving in; the census finds a 75 percent increase in parents under the age of 65 who are now living with their adult children, as well as a 24 percent increase in live-in brothers and sisters.

In many immigrant families, multi-generational households are the norm; it represents an old-world approach to economic challenges facing families today.

“Family structure in the U.S. is evolving,” Butts said. “It is evolving in some ways back to how families used to live. That is, they’re living in multi-generational households.”  via ABC News

Hat tip Realtor Magazine

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