A study performed by Pew Research Center, a nonprofit think tank in Washington DC, revealed that the number of families in which people in their 20s and 30s live with parents and grandparents has reached a historic maximum of 17 percent, some 42.4 million people. This number was estimated to be some 12 percent in 1980, growing to 17 percent in 2009.
The study notes that the share of multigenerational families is growing among most racial and age groups.
Analyzing demographics, the survey notes that Asian and Hispanic populations, groups traditionally more likely to live in multigenerational family households, are growing more rapidly than whites in the US. The same tendency is also true for foreign-born immigrants.
In numbers, some 28 percent of Asians live in multigenerational households versus 25 percent of Hispanics and African-Americans, and 15 percent of Caucasians, the survey says.
The study notes that 31 percent of young adults aged 25-29 (past student age) are living with parents and grandparents. If expanded to those aged 18-34, the number of people living in such families becomes a historic maximum covering a period of some 130 years.
Education makes difference, as people without a college degree are more likely to share homes with their folks. Those with a college degree are more likely to live with spouses only.
The study also notes a change in the cost of raising children. As another report suggests, the cost of raising a child has surged some 50 percent over the last decade, and young parents are more likely to receive help from their parents. A separate 2012 study by the University of Chicago says that 60 percent of grandparents provided some care for their grandchildren during a 10-year period, and 70 percent of those who did provided care for two years or more.
"Importantly, grandparents with less income and less education, or who are from minority groups, are more likely to take on care for their grandchildren," says Linda Waite, a professor in urban sociology at the University of Chicago.
