Multigenerational Homes Are on the Rise for Good Reason — Here’s What to Know

After her marriage ended in 2019, Olivia Dreizen Howell initially decided to stay in the Long Island home she’d shared with her now ex-husband. She wanted to provide some postdivorce stability for her two young sons, so she refinanced so she could afford the monthly mortgage payment on one income.

But after three years of living in the house alone with her kids — through the pandemic, all while running her own marketing agency — Dreizen Howell was feeling burned out. She also had big plans for a new startup, and she wanted a financial cushion as she launched the business, called Fresh Starts Registry, an online platform that helps people rebuild after a major life event, like a divorce or job change. 

So Dreizen Howell put her house on the market. After it sold in March 2022, Dreizen Howell and her sons moved in with her mom and stepdad. She’s been living in a multigenerational home ever since, and she couldn’t be happier. 

Dreizen Howell speaks openly about her living arrangement, in part because she wants to help remove some of the stigma surrounding multigenerational homes.

“There is a lot of shame about moving ‘back’ home — and I want to take that shame away from people,” she says. “Because I moved back home, I get to pursue building a startup, have a better relationship with my kids and parents and friends, and have help with my family. There’s nothing shameful about that. A lot more people are living multigenerational. and we’re just not talking about it. I’m so grateful for this opportunity — it’s allowing me to live the life of my dreams.” 

Dreizen Howell is not alone. She’s one of the millions of people living in multigenerational homes across the U.S. — 59.7 million in March 2021, to be exact, according to the latest figures from Pew Research Center. That’s nearly 1 in 5 people in the United States.

As the cost of living continues to rise and more people suffer from loneliness, multigenerational homes are becoming increasingly popular. Curious about this lifestyle? Read on to learn more about multigenerational homes — the pros, the cons, and what it’s actually like to live with several generations under one roof. 

As the name suggests, a multigenerational home is any arrangement that involves multiple generations of people, usually belonging to the same family, living together. It’s often used to describe households consisting of several adult generations — like young adults living with their parents — but it can also include a “skipped” generation, like grandparents living with young grandchildren. In some cases, it’s a mishmash of both of these circumstances, like young children, parents, and grandparents sharing a home.

A wide variety of people live in multigenerational homes, but, in the United States, this arrangement tends to be more common among immigrants, as well as Black, Hispanic, and Asian Americans, according to the Pew Research Center. 

Young adults are also more likely to live in a multigenerational home: Though rates are going up across the board, the fastest increase has been among adults ages 25 to 34, according to Pew. In 2021, 25% of adults within that age bracket were living in a multigenerational home, a jump from 9% in 1971.

People live in multigenerational homes for all kinds of reasons, from financial savings to family bonding. Here are some of the major benefits and challenges to consider if you’re wondering whether this living arrangement is right for you. 

Living in a multigenerational home has some distinct benefits. One of the biggest? It can make the cost of living more affordable, since more people are chipping in for rent or the monthly mortgage payment. Beyond that, multigenerational households might also share costs like utilities and groceries. 

“The driving factor for multigenerational living arrangements is finances,” says Tate Kelly, a real estate broker in New York City. “It is incredibly expensive to rent or own a home in NYC and even harder when you only have an entry-level salary. Sharing the costs with multiple generations in a family can ease that financial burden for all parties and hopefully help the youngest generation build up some savings for the future.”

For families with kids, it can also help cut down on the costs of childcare (if other adults living in the household are willing to take on babysitting duties) and ease the burden of parenting more broadly. More people around means more people available for school drop-offs, to help pack lunches, and to pick up the slack if the parent needs to work late one night.

The same is true for families with older adults. Instead of hiring an in-home nurse or sending a grandparent to a retirement community, they can live at home, with other adults around to help keep them safe and healthy.

“With childcare being a huge expense and taking up a large portion of the household income, multigenerational arrangements — particularly those involving parents or grandparents — make that expense a nonfactor while giving parents peace of mind and grandparents the welcomed time of spending time with their grandchildren,” real estate agent David Harris says.

“Older adults with increasing healthcare concerns are also finding multigenerational living arrangements beneficial as they are able to obtain assistance in the home and avoid the expense of elder care or nursing home expenses.”

Living in a multigenerational home also means you have a built-in social network — there’s always someone around to watch a movie with or chitchat after a long day at work or school. Then, there are the intangible benefits, like the wisdom passed down from older generations to younger ones, or the vibrant energy of living with young people. 

But this arrangement also has a few hurdles, of course. Living in a multigenerational home means you probably have less privacy than you would if you lived alone. The house may be louder than you’d prefer, or you may run into issues with people keeping different schedules — someone’s alarm clock may be going off right as someone else is going to bed. 

This arrangement may also exacerbate long-standing family issues, or lead to heated disagreements over everything from how to load the dishwasher to how to raise a child. During the housing search, it may also be difficult to find a multigenerational home that suits everyone’s tastes and needs.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges of multigenerational living is navigating your relationships. Your roles, especially in relation to one another, are likely different now than you remember. Figuring out these new family dynamics — as a parent or an adult child — can be difficult.

“Parents living with children often forget that while these are the children they raised, these children are now adults,” Harris says. 

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to multigenerational living, so only you and your housemates can ultimately decide whether the pros outweigh the cons.

OK, that’s all great in theory, but what is it actually like to live this way? 

For Dreizen Howell, who is a solo parent, multigenerational living means there are two extra pairs of hands to help with her sons, 11-year-old Weston and 8-year-old Wyatt. 

“When my kids are sick, I have other people here in case of emergency,” she says. “The house is actually closer to my sons’ school, so it’s been amazing having the help from my mom and stepdad when I can’t make it to an event or for pick-up and drop-off.”

Not having a mortgage or a property to maintain on her own has also given her more time, money, and energy to put toward her kids, her startup, and her creative pursuits. This more balanced lifestyle has been a welcome change.

“It’s been so nice not having to take care of a house by myself,” she says. “I’m not stressed in the same way as owning a house.”

Her kids’ lives have also been enriched by the experience. They’ve bonded with their grandparents in ways she couldn’t have fathomed, she says.

“My parents are artists, and they spend a ton of time creating art with my children,” she says. “My stepdad is amazing … and spends so much time assisting the kids with math and science homework, the science fair, and helping them create any invention they dream up.”

Dreizen Howell’s relationship with her parents has gotten stronger, too. And she’s grateful for the opportunity to split groceries, bills, and household chores. “It’s much easier working together as a community that thrives together than struggling to make ends meet in my own house a few minutes away,” she says.

For Jian Huang, who lives with her husband and her 76-year-old mother (and, soon, a new baby) in Arkansas, the cost savings of living in a multigenerational home have been huge. 

By consolidating their living expenses, she estimates they’re saving between $20,000 to $25,000 per year. When the baby arrives, that number is likely to go up to $35,000 to $40,000 after factoring in childcare and travel costs. Living together also allowed them to buy a house in the first place, since they all chipped in on the down payment.

Beyond that, her family has also grown closer since moving in together.

“It makes so much sense financially and emotionally that we would not have it any other way,” she says.

Huang decided to pursue a multigenerational living arrangement during the pandemic. Amid the initial lockdown, she and her husband realized their 1,000-square-foot Pasadena apartment was just too small. In 2020, Huang’s father also passed away, which meant her mom was living alone in a senior apartment in Los Angeles’ Chinatown neighborhood.

“Our main goal was cultural,” says Huang. “My mom has a language and hearing barrier, so she needs someone to help interpret. Even though she has lived in the United States for several decades, she still finds the Western way of life foreign and sometimes daunting. Culturally, she’s also shy about asking for help… Having an understanding family who can pick up on these needs gives her a tremendous sense of comfort and safety.”

So, Huang and her husband began looking for a new place to live — one that could also accommodate her mother. They initially looked in Southern California, but ended up in Arkansas because of its much lower cost of living.

Today, the three of them live in a three-bedroom house set on 50 acres of land, where Huang has watched her mother blossom.

“After moving in with us, I’ve noticed that she has a lot more energy, she’s more talkative, and she is even making friends with the other Chinese-speaking families in our small rural town,” she says.

If you’re thinking about moving into a multigenerational home, consider these tips to help ensure it’s a successful, positive experience.

Living with anyone, whether a family member, a roommate, or a significant other, can be challenging. You have your shared spaces — like the kitchen, living room, and dining area — but it’s important to carve out your own personal space where you can “be messy, do yoga, watch TV, or just be uninterrupted,” Huang says. That might be a bedroom, an office, or even an outdoor area.

Living with others can add pressure to any relationship. So, no matter who you’re living with, remember to prioritize alone time. “My husband and I take walks together almost every evening by ourselves so we can talk and just be together,” Huang says. “Likewise, with my mom, I set aside Saturday mornings to go grocery shopping with her so we can catch up during the car ride and enjoy each other’s company.”

Sharing grocery bills — as well as refrigerator and pantry space — can get tricky without clearly defined rules and boundaries. (And you know how people can get when they’re hangry.) So, be sure to discuss food early on, Dreizen Howell says. “I would have a conversation addressing who will buy what food, how to label if food is yours, and where food will be stored,” she says. 

One person’s version of quiet might be another person’s full volume. As with any shared living situation, it’s important to be mindful of how much noise you’re making. This will also likely bring up your housemate’s preferred schedules. “Does someone need to get up early?” Dreizen Howell says. “Are the kids allowed to play loud video games in the shared living spaces? It’s important everyone feels like they have a safe space to express themselves, especially with kids, so noise level is an important conversation to have.”