Multifamily Households Rise As More Americans 'Double Up'

nytimes.com:

Census Bureau data released in September showed that the number of multifamily households jumped 11.7 percent from 2008 to 2010, reaching 15.5 million, or 13.2 percent of all households. It is the highest proportion since at least 1968, accounting for 54 million people.

Even that figure, however, is undoubtedly an undercount of the phenomenon social service providers call "doubling up," which has ballooned in the recession and anemic recovery. The census' multifamily household figures, for example, do not include such situations as when a single brother and a single sister move in together, or when a childless adult goes to live with his or her parents.

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[rtx47]

12:07 AM on 12/30/2010

For those bloggers bemoaning about adult children or two related families living in a home, there is a saying, "When there is love in ones heart, there is room in ones home."

Yet we do not have to be so alturistic. Most home-owners in Queens, NY rent out a room or the basement to strangers (with references) and make an added income. They usually share the same kitchen and bath.

[rtx47]

12:00 AM on 12/30/2010

With 10% unemployment rate and possibly 20% under-employment rate, math suggest 70% of Americans who want to work have an acceptable job.

Major problem for these 70% workers, (vast majority of voters) is their paycheck is sliced 30%-40% right in their pay-stub. Thus, all working Americans see the unfairness of the current system every two weeks. Likely many see abuses and inefficiencies of private and public system right at their own place of work.

To Progressives and Liberals, increasing govt. spending and taxes is not the solution. We tried it since President Lyndon Johnson; with both Democrats and Republicans at federal and states govt.

Social spending was good seed money to bring change; but now it's a ballooning burden. We have a huge oak tree that keeps growing at a rapid rate and starting more oak trees. Most social spending, including foreign aid, is in big part corporate subsidy.

I enjoy Ed Schultz and Rachael Madow (my favorites). Yet, they loose me, as soon as I hear them state, "govt. needs to spend more" on this program or that. Judging from last election, most Independent voters and moderate Democrats and Republicans feel the same.

Govt needs to cut wasteful spending including a third of defense budget. Cutting spending is cutting jobs. What are the unemployed going to do?

Yet there are lot of social issues caused due to lack of social support; including 50% school drop-out, and spending 700 Billion dollars for end-of-life care.

[roger g]

06:30 PM on 12/29/2010

In a country with 19,000,000 vacant housing units,it is bad news for the housing market as every person who doubles up helps assure that their is no floor on in place on the housing market and less demand to build more---Unemployment must be tackled aggressively before there is a turnaround or the situation could deteriorate further.

[ResearchtheFacts]

02:51 PM on 12/29/2010

What was the census the marker to see if they have diminished the middle class yet?  Good to know that family in that 7,000 sq ft home with 14 bedrooms are not sharing their home with anyone and got a tax extension that most americans wanted them to have.  Plus in that tax bill they get incentives for how many jobs they ship offshore.  Something the msm failed to mention.

[booki]

02:38 PM on 12/29/2010

i think Geithner should be fired.... Bernanke also
and i fear O will hire a Wallstreeter to replace Summers..

[Rick Eriksen]

02:14 PM on 12/29/2010

Some third world traditions are just unavoidable here in the good old USA…Soon the kids will not have to leave the house to go to school…just gather around the two kitchen tables with all the relatives and a few friends living in the house…

Of course here in America where having a four bedroom 3,500 sq ft house is pretty much the norm it will not be that big of a problem for at least another five or ten years until those kids start having kids with nowhere to go…

[catcancook]

02:09 PM on 12/29/2010

Both generations having employment problems under one roof sounds excruciating Both men are in the trades with no job prospects. One tiny grandchild gluing them together as a family.

What is going to happen in this country when all of these precarious situations fall apart due to continued unemployment? I feel so sorry for this family.

[Ljilja]

01:54 PM on 12/29/2010

My sister and brother-in-law have moved in with my family for a year. In hard times, people do what they have to to survive.
Really, it's not at all bad. There is a sense of pleasure and accomplishment in facing and overcoming hardship together. It's a good lesson for the kids to learn!

http://graciouslivingdaybyday.com/2010/11/12/update-on-communal-living/

[desertman]

02:38 PM on 12/29/2010

My Uncle and my dad's family lived in the same house during the depression. They got through it.

[RobberBarons]

01:52 PM on 12/29/2010

Looks like our third world society is alive and ticking.

[desertman]

02:41 PM on 12/29/2010

We have ways to go before legitimately being called third world.

[Mondieu]

04:09 PM on 12/29/2010

Travel through the Ozarks and see for yourself.

[Steve Rockett]

01:39 PM on 12/29/2010

My grandfather used to tell me this story: A Russian man and wife lived in a one room hut and her mother came to live with them. They were very uncomfortable and went to the local priest for advice. He said, "Will you follow my advice?" "Yes" He then advised them to move the family cow inside. They did and then saw him a week later. They were frantic. Each week he asked them to move another animal into the house: the pig, the goat, the chickens. Finally, they could not stand it. He said, okay now move all the animals outside. They were ecstatic!

[baronmerlot]

02:45 PM on 12/29/2010

Thanks for that story, it made me feel better about my situation and gave me a chuckle. I find myself having to move in with my younger brother and was really down about how things have turned this year.

[Mondieu]

04:10 PM on 12/29/2010

If this is a feel good story; I do not feel good.

[Steve Rockett]

09:02 PM on 12/29/2010

My stories make everyone feel good. Go back and read it again and again till you start laughing and dancing around the room. Man, you must be in a terrible place. Hope you feel better.

[Steve Rockett]

01:28 PM on 12/29/2010

I regularly write Warren and Bill and ask to move in with them. I would not be a nuisance and would only drive their cars on weekends. I would keep the noise down and might even keep quiet at the dinner table. I just can't figure out why they haven't taken me up on my offer, neither can my dog.

[desertman]

01:50 PM on 12/29/2010

Warren drives his own car and Bill already has a driver.

[Steve Rockett]

09:11 PM on 12/29/2010

Shhh. I am in Warren's trunk right now. Hard to breathe with all these stacks of Benjamins. Appreciate your advice.

[Steve Rockett]

01:26 PM on 12/29/2010

One neighbor took in a family; another took in a boarder and is looking for another. Interesting times. When some families come to America, they all live together and pool their resources. They buy a business or house and continue until everyone is rewarded. Students study and work part time. Adults take jobs doing whatever they can. We should all be building resources for our families and progeny.

[Linda from Deerfield]

01:18 PM on 12/29/2010

This data is downright alarming, given that they are not even counting single adults living with parents. It may not be all bad, for instance having grandparents and grandchildren in the same house might be good for everyone, and having a younger family help the elderly catch up on repairs might be appreciated, but the mental stress of broken dreams and uninvited guests is bound to take a toll.

[dporterdvd]

01:10 PM on 12/29/2010

Now that the wealthiest 2% of the population has more wealth than the bottom 90%, it seems like we are more like a South American Third World country than a Western European country. America is now the best place in the world to live only if you are a rich person. For the bottom 90%, it is not so great and getting worse.

[desertman]

01:24 PM on 12/29/2010

This country has chosen not to educate itself in math and the hard sciences. That is where the jobs are. This is the natural outcome.

[Steve Rockett]

01:34 PM on 12/29/2010

You nailed it. Fanned.

[Turbo-prop Pilot]

02:50 PM on 12/29/2010

You mean like engineering? Those jobs are all going to China now too... sorry.

[ron46032]

01:05 PM on 12/29/2010

This sounds like an advance forward. The US has forgotten about family. There's a lot of good reasons for extended families to be together. It allows for children to be reared by people who know them instead of by the baby sitter. It allows for our elders to maintain a life without sitting alone and unstimulated.

I enjoyed my time with my great grandmother when she moved in to our house. She lived much longer than was ever expected. She helped out around the house and gave us her opinions. When I was younger, I didn't appreciate them as much as I do now.

But then again doesn't a teenager know everything about everything at that age.

[Steve Rockett]

01:36 PM on 12/29/2010

Great comment. Always a silver lining.