American young adults, who are finding it hard to cope up with student debt and housing costs, are turning towards multi-generational living. A quarter of the adults aged 25 to 34 reside in a multigenerational family household in 2021, which is up from nine per cent in 1971, an analysis from the PEW Research Centre said.
In the analysis, the researchers said that the growth in multi-generational living among the young adult aged 25 to 34 has been especially pronounced among those without a college degree. The analysts said that multi-generational living has tripled among these young adults, compared with doubling among young adults with at least a bachelor’s degree. In 1971, the prevalence of multigenerational living among young adults was similar regardless of educational attainment.
By 2021, 31% of young adults who had not finished college were in a multigenerational arrangement – almost double the share of their peers who had completed at least a bachelor’s degree (16%).
LIVING IN HOME OF PARENTS
In the report, the Pew Centre says that 68 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds in 2021 lived in multigenerational home in the home of one or both of their parents. It said that 15 per cent were still living in their own home and had a parent or other older relative living with them. Another 14 per cent of young adults in multigenerational households were living in a home headed by a family member other than their parent, such as a grandparent or sibling, or by an unmarried partner or a roommate (three per cent). In the analysis, they found that the share of young adults who live in a parent’s home rose from eight per cent in 1971 to 17 per cent in 2021, while the share in other multigenerational living arrangements rose from one per cent to to eight per cent.
EDUCATION AND ECONOMY
The report mentioned that majority of 25- to 34-year-olds who were living in a multi-generational household and had at least a bachelor’s degree (57 per cent were living with two parents in 2021, compared with 48 per cent of those with some college, 40 per cent of those with a high school diploma and 35 per cent of those who did not complete high school. Adults ages 25 to 34 who lived in multi-generational arrangements tended to be economically better off if they live with two parents than if they live with one or no parent. The median household income of young adults living with two parents was about $113,000 in 2021, compared with less than $75,000 for those living with one or no parent in their multigenerational household, after controlling for the size of the household.
Similarly, young adults in multigenerational households with two parents (3%) were less likely than those with one parent (10 per cent) or no parent in the household (14 per cent) to be in poverty.
