'Doubling Up' Increases

When times are tight, children will return to live with their parents. For the first time, older adults have taken up that strategy in record numbers, reports the Census Bureau. While there are upsides to these 'extended families', it also masks an increase in poverty as the Census combines all incomes for those living together.

"When struggling adults share households with other family, it may keep them out of poverty members "More adults ages 35 or older are packing up their households and bunking with in-laws, siblings, parents or other kin. It's happening at a historically high rate, according to new Census Bureau estimates. Nearly 500,000 such folks moved in with family over the past two years, compared with some 400,000 in the 25-to-34 age group traditionally known for returning to live with parents. Together, the two groups drove an 11.4 percent increase in the number of U.S. households containing extended families.

But the surge's impact is especially profound among the older adults, accelerating a pattern begun during the 2000 recession: 3.4 million more Americans ages 35 and older have moved in with relatives over the decade. Their numbers increased twice as fast as the age group's population."