More extended families now living together

The number of people living with several generations under one roof in the United States is at its highest point in 50 years, as families cope with ruinous job losses and foreclosures, researchers said Wednesday.

During the first year of the recession, the number of Americans living in such multigenerational families rose by 2.6 million, or more than 5 percent, from 2007 to 2008.

"For some families, when you lose your home, you lose your job, what do you do? You go to your family," said Paul Taylor, co-author of the Pew Research Center report, who described the phenomenon as "the ultimate social-safety net."

The trend to bring extended families together in one home has been growing since 1980, driven by an influx of new immigrants and other social and cultural changes, according to the report. The trend accelerated as the economic crisis sent many families reeling.

Now 49 million Americans — 16.1 percent of the population — live in homes with multiple generations. Many include adult children in their 20s.

Young adults are less likely to be married than they once were. The typical age of first marriage is five years later than it was in 1970: 28 for men and 26 for women. In a tough job market, many live with their parents. Pew's analysis showed that 37 percent of 18-to 29-year-olds in 2009 were either out of the work force or unemployed, a nearly four-decade high. The figure includes some college students.

Households composed of such extended families were on the decline after World War II, with the growth of suburban nuclear families and as immigrants became a smaller share of the population. At the same time, more adults aged 65 and older — once the group most likely to live in a multigenerational household — continued to live independently as they fared better physically and financially, the report said.

The comeback since 1980 of the multigenerational household has been steady. Immigrants, many from Latin America and Asia, have had a role, the report said. Many dwell in one home across generations, as European immigrants had in earlier centuries.

The report also pointed out that aging parents today have more options for multigenerational households because their children, the baby boomers, are greater in number. "They have more grown children than earlier generations did," Taylor said.

Still, Frances Goldscheider, a family demographer and professor emerita at Brown University, said the dramatic single-year increase is powerful evidence of the economy's effect. She recalled the Great Depression, when married couples in their 20s routinely lived with parents.

"It's an insurance system that used to be the only insurance system," she said.

Based on U.S. Census data, the report used a definition of multigenerational households that included at least two generations of adults older than 25; grandparents raising grandchildren; and all homes that bring together three generations or more.

Hispanics, blacks and Asians were significantly more likely than whites to live in a multigenerational family household, according to the report, which also chronicled changes for older adults living alone.