Abstract
The Census Bureau defines a multigenerational household as a household consisting of three or more generations (Lofquist 2012). Historically, multigenerational households were the default setting in pre-industrial times. A numerous household meant a greater number of workers to practice agriculture, take care of farm animals, and provide assistance in the domestic realm. In 1850, 70% of adults over age 65 lived with their adult children, while in 2000 only 15% of elderly parents lived with their offspring (Reid Keene and Batson 2010). This downward trend in multigenerational households was also a byproduct of the first demographic transition which saw a decline in fertility and mortality in the developed world as well as the rise in prominence of the single nuclear family model (Lesthaeghe 2014).
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Marquez-Velarde, G. (2020). Multigenerational Households: A Descriptive Approach to Distinctive Definitions. In: Farris, D.N., Bourque, A.J.J. (eds) International Handbook on the Demography of Marriage and the Family. International Handbooks of Population, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35079-6_15
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