More Americans living in multigenerational homes

Twenty-percent of households in the U.S. are multigenerational.

Sixty-four million people currently reside in a property with two or more adult generations, or including grandparents and grandchildren younger than 25, which is an all-time high, according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center. Asians and Hispanics are more likely to reside in multigenerational homes, at 29 and 27 percent, respectively. Both of these ethnicities are growing in population in the U.S., which contributes to the increasing number of multigenerational homes. Sixteen percent of whites and 26 percent of blacks also reside in a multigenerational home. The most common multigeneration household is two generations, at 32.3 million, followed by three or more generations at 28.4 million, and skipped generations at 3.2 million.

Across generations, younger adults, aged 25 to 29, were most likely to live in a multigenerational household, at 33 percent. Twenty-four percent of Americans 55 to 64 live in a multigenerational home, as do 21 percent of Americans 64 and older. Twenty-one percent of women live in multigenerational homes, compared to 19 percent of men. However, for young adults, aged 25 to 29, 23 percent of men live in multigenerational homes, compared to 20 percent of women. Among adults aged 30 to 34, 22 percent of men live in a multigenerational home, compared to 19 percent of their female peers.

The study, which was based on 2016 data, found that in 2009, only 51.5 million Americans, or 17 percent of the population, lived in multigenerational homes. By 2014, that number grew to 60.6 million Americans, representing 19 percent of the population. In 1950, the percentage of Americans residing in a multigenerational home reached 21 percent, before decreasing to 12 percent, a low, in 1980.