The Evolving American Household: Growth in Multigenerational Living
A growing share of American households have three or more generations of the same family living under the same roof.

A growing share of American households have three or more generations of the same family living under the same roof.
A growing share of American households have three or more generations of the same family living under the same roof.
During much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, extended families living in tight quarters was the norm, before the post-World War II baby boom pushed more nuclear families to begin forming their own households. But a combination of economic, cultural and social forces is helping spur a new rise in multigenerational households. Extended families are increasingly driven to live together in part as a way of easing housing affordability, and it is also a much more common phenomenon among rapidly growing Asian and Hispanic households.
The slides below examine some of the characteristics of today’s multigenerational American households.