Brave New World? 64 Million Americans Live In Multi-Generational Households

The old America we knew, where living standards more than doubled each generation, has ceased to exist as new evidence suggests the percentage of Americans living in multigenerational households is at its highest since the post–World War II economic expansion.

Heavily indebted Americans are readjusting to a deterioration in living standards. Many of society’s lower-income consumers have already reshaped their lifestyles — towards living in a home with at least two adult generations. In other words, more Americans than ever in the last half-century are returning to their parents’ basement.

According to a new Pew Research Center report of census data, a record 64 million Americans, accounting for some 20 percent of the total U.S. population, lived in multigenerational family households in 2016, representing a three-decade continuous progression in this type of household formation — despite government propaganda that indicates economic improvements since the Great Recession.

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