Staff writer Michael E. Kanell contributed to this story.
Percent of population in multi-generational households by age
Age group…..2012…..2006
Younger than 18…..13.7…..11.6
18-24…..17.3…..14.2
25-34…..23.6…..18.3
35-44…..14.2…..11.4
45-54…..18.6…..16
55-64…..22.2…..19.9
65-84…..19.8…..19
85 and older…..22.7…..20
Percent of population in multigeneraltional households by race and ethnicity
Race and ethnicity…..2012…..2006
White…..14.3…..11.9
Hispanic…..24.4…..20.2
Black…..24.6…..22.3
Asian…..27.2…..24.4
Other…..21.2…..18.7
Source: Pew Research Center
Until he gets married, 24-year-old Minh Ly has no plans to leave his parents’ Chamblee home.
A Vietnamese immigrant, Ly intentionally chose a college that is driving distance from Chamblee, so he wouldn’t have to move into a dorm. He dreams of earning enough money to build a house large enough to accommodate not just his eventual family, but his parents as well.
“I can’t describe how pleasurable and honorable it is to stay with the family,” said Ly, whose family came to the U.S. when he was 14. “It’s not like Americans, where at 18 you have to be independent. Seeing your parents after work, after school, is the best thing ever.”
While moving out of the family home is conventionally seen as a way to transition into adulthood, it’s becoming more common for grown children to wait to leave their parents. Multi-generational households are on the rise across the United States and should continue to grow, studies show.
In 2012, a record 57 million Americans — 18 percent of the population — lived with elderly parents or adult children, double the number in 1980, a Pew study said.
While there aren’t exact numbers on the percentage of metro Atlanta households with multiple generations, Census data indicates it’s above the national average of 5.6 percent. In Georgia as a whole, 6.3 percent of all households contain multiple generations, according that data.
Immigrants are among the most likely to live with relatives. In 2010, immigrants made up 13.5 percent of the total metro population. Gwinnett County has an even larger percentage, with a quarter of all residents foreign-born.
Reasons for families living together longer may vary, whether out of a sense of obligation, for the sheer pleasure of family members’ company, or to save money.
There are benefits to sharing living space. Many times, having more family under one roof means people have bigger safety nets. Research shows people who live with other generations are less likely to experience poverty.
“Other cultures are more used to a multi-generational family structure,” said Donna Butts, the executive director of Generations United. “Other cultures realize there’s that strength.”
Having more residents in a single home, however, also places a greater demand on services, like sewers and roads. It could mean that the growth of new households in an area is slowed as young adults stay with their parents longer.
When the children of immigrants become more Americanized, they can sometimes rebel against their parents’ cultural expectations. Many, of course, form their own households. Still, an increasing number of people, native born and newly arrived, are seeing the benefits of shared housing.
Home builders are constructing more houses with mother-in-law suites or with multiple master bedrooms, said Jessica Lautz, the director of survey research and communications for the National Association of Realtors. She said among recent homebuyers, 21 percent of 50- to 59-year-olds were buying houses that could accommodate either their parents or their children.
Nadir Wazir, 25, has stayed in his family's Gwinnett County home to help his parents with the bills. Wazir's parents were born in Pakistan, and he said he has nearly a dozen friends, whose parents also are immigrants, still living at home.
“Culture plays a really large part into it,” he said. “I’m the eldest son in the family, and it’s the son’s responsibility to take care of the family.”
Wazir said he plans to move out of his home once his parents are more financially stable, but that he expects it to be at least three years before he seriously entertains the idea.
“It is different than in the United States,” said Jennifer Van Hook, director of the Population Research Institute at Penn State University. “There is the expectation of older generations that they’ll live with their children, even among the middle class.”
Van Hook said immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries tend to live with siblings or cousins as a way to save money. Doubling up can help stretch dollars further.
Even those with more resources often think more in the collective than about their individual needs, and can use family bonds to help acclimate to new communities, said Molly Scott, a senior research associate with the Urban Institute.
Kerby Gordon, a second-generation American of Mexican and Dominican descent, said he’s living with his family in Duluth to help his mom financially. Gordon, 24, doesn’t speak Spanish and doesn’t consider himself engulfed in Hispanic culture, but said he cares about his family deeply. He’s working as a paralegal and giving some of his income to his family.
“The Hispanic community tends to stick together,” Gordon said. “I can see how some groups are more family oriented.”
In the Chinese community, parents encourage their children to stay home even after they’ve finished college, said Lani Wong, chair of the National Association of Chinese Americans of Atlanta. They want to keep an eye on their children, she said, and appreciate the additional income as part of household expenses. In some families, she said, there is an expectation that children will stay home until they’re 30.
“The majority of families that I know of, they would like to have their family stay home longer,” she said. “Sometimes, when the children start working, they chip in.”
Some children may also live at home while they’re saving to buy a place of their own. Asian residents in particular may delay renting in order to buy, keeping them in the family home longer, said Dowell Myers, a professor of policy, planning and demography at the University of Southern California.
“Asian families are smart,” he said. “They save money by living like that.”
Ly, the Vietnamese immigrant, said he is home in part because his father wants the family to stay close.
“I wouldn’t expect to move out,” he said. “I never thought about moving away from my family.”
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