Three Generation Households

[--Pete]

Hi,

. . . this 'new' trend does seem to me to be a more positive thing for the youngest members of such families.

I think we need to distinguish multi-generational households by the circumstances under which they've come about. If they've come about because the people wished to live together, or if there are health reasons where one generation is caring for another (typically, one thinks of middle generation helping the older, but the opposite can well be true in cases of chronic illnesses), then all could be well. If the reason for a multi-generation household is the typical 'kid fails to make it in the world and moves back in with mom and dad, bringing his/her offspring along', then the picture is not as bright.

The summer ('70) I worked for the Census Bureau doing their crime survey, I ran across many multi-generation households (one had 5 generations, and not a male over the age of 14). Not one of them was a Brady Bunch.

--Pete