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“We are a four-generation household,” said Jason Fitzgerald.<\/p>\n
Fitzgerald, 45, and his wife, Rachel Zack, 41, bought a house with Rachel’s parents Beverly and Arthur Zack, who are in their 70s, and Rachel’s 98-year-old grandmother Lillian, who goes by “Bubbie.”<\/p>\n
The home has six bedrooms, with five full and two half bathrooms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They all live together in South Orange, New Jersey, along with Fitzgerald and Zack’s two children: one-year-old Ada and Lily, 6.<\/p>\n
Even before the pandemic, “it seemed to make financial sense to combine our resources,” Fitzgerald said.<\/p>\n
When Covid restrictions left them suddenly housebound, “it turned out to be a lifesaver,” Zack added.<\/p>\n
“When I was working from home, it was wonderful for our daughter to have someone to play with, Jason and I could go take a walk, we could do things other parents couldn’t do,” she said.<\/p>\n
But beyond the convenience of child care, living together affords a closeness that wouldn’t be achieved otherwise, she said.<\/p>\n
“Part of this decision was financial but even more so, creating a community in our home,” she said.<\/p>\n
“The gift we are giving our kids is an intimate relationship with their grandparents and great-grandmother,” Zack added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The family members in Rachel and Jason’s multigenerational household range in age from 1 to 98.<\/p>\n
Courtesy: Jason Fitzgerald<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Overall, multigenerational living is\u00a0on the rise and has been for years.<\/p>\n
The number of household with two or more adult generations has quadrupled over the past five decades, according to a Pew Research Center report<\/a>\u00a0based on census data from 1971 to 2021. Such households now represent 18% of the U.S. population, they estimate.<\/p>\n “Clearly, for some adults there are favorable aspects to it,” said Richard Fry, a senior researcher at\u00a0Pew.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, finances are the No. 1 reason families are doubling up, Pew found, due, in part to ballooning student debt<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0housing costs<\/a>. Caregiving also plays a role in the decision process.<\/p>\n To that end, multigenerational living has grown the fastest among adults ages 25 to 34. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In 2020, the share of those living with their parents \u2014 often referred to as “boomerang kids” \u2014\u00a0temporarily spiked<\/a>\u00a0to a historic high.<\/p>\n “The pandemic was a short-term rocket, but the levels today are still significantly above where they were in 2019 \u2014 and it’s been rising over the past 50 years,” Fry said.<\/p>\n Now, 25% of young adults live in a multigenerational household,\u00a0up from just 9% five decades ago. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In most cases, 25- to 34-year-olds are living in the home of one or both of their parents. A smaller share lives in their own home and has a parent or other older relative stay with them.<\/p>\n The percentage of young adults living with parents or grandparents is even greater among men and those without a college degree.<\/p>\n “It’s really a private social safety net for them,” Fry said.<\/p>\n Young adults without a bachelor’s degree tend to\u00a0earn substantially less<\/a>\u00a0than those who finished college, Pew also found.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Not surprisingly, older parents are also more likely to pay for most of the expenses when two or more generations share a home. The typical 25- to 34-year-old in a multigenerational household contributes 22% of the total household income, Pew found.\u00a0<\/p>\n For parents, however, supporting grown children can be a substantial drain at a time when their own financial security is at risk.<\/p>\n In an economy that has produced the\u00a0highest inflation rate<\/a>\u00a0since the early 1980s, the cost of having young adults living at home has risen sharply.<\/p>\n But, overall, there is an economic benefit to these living arrangements, Pew found, and Americans living in multigenerational households are less likely to be financially vulnerable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In the Zack-Fitzgerald household, expenses, including the home purchase, utility bills, groceries and cable, are split down the middle, and the dynamic has worked well, Fitzgerald said.<\/p>\n “It’s really efficient because there’s so much that would be doubled up if we were in separate households,” he said.<\/p>\n For now, there are no plans to ever live separately.<\/p>\n “It was and continues to be a blessing for us,” Zack said.<\/p>\n “We don’t have an exit strategy,” Fitzgerald added.<\/p>\n Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhy so many adults live with mom and dad<\/h2>\n
How multigenerational households manage finances<\/h2>\n