How the Housing Crisis Impacts Family Life

“More than 59 million people live in multigenerational households or a home that includes two or more adult generations,” according to research from Rocket Mortgage, amounting to 18 percent of the U.S. population. A piece for WBUR by Claire Donnelly and Meghna Chakrabarti notes that this is twice the rate as in the 1970s, and that “nearly one third of all Americans aged 25 to 29 live in multigenerational households, now a third of them.”

According to a summary by Carla Ayers, “48.8% said home affordability and saving money were their main concern when choosing where and how to live.” In other words, the high cost of housing is pushing more families to stay or move into the same household. “While those in this living situation did find benefits, 56.5% of survey respondents said they would prefer to live alone in their own home or with their immediate family only, if given the choice.”