As prices on seemingly everything over the last few years have increased, more and more families are teaming up to help one another.
A Pew Research Center survey found that young adults in the U.S. are much more likely to live in a multigenerational household these days than they were 50 years ago.
The survey defined multigenerational living as a household with two or more adult generations, typically 25 and older, and a living situation that has increased among all age groups over the past five decades.
Young adults in the U.S. have been coping with rising student debt and housing costs. According to the numbers, multigenerational living has provided young adults a little break from higher costs of living and debt.
According to the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C., a quarter of U.S. adults ages 25 to 34 resided in a multigenerational family household in 2021, up from 9% in 1971.
The survey showed growth in multigenerational living among 25- to 34-year-olds has been especially pronounced among those without a college degree. Multigenerational living has tripled among these young adults, compared with a doubling among young adults with at least a bachelor’s degree.
According to the survey’s findings, in 1971, the prevalence of multigenerational living among young adults was similar regardless of educational attainment. However, 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%).
Survey participants in October 2021 also shared that financial issues were a primary reason adults lived in multigenerational households. The most common living arrangement was young adults living in a home with one or both of their parents.
Researchers said that when it comes to financial contributions, the typical 25- to 34-year-old in a multigenerational household contributed 22% of the household’s total income in 2021.