Layla Ahmed is, by any measure, a responsible adult. She works at a nonprofit in Nashville helping refugees. Makes 50k a year. Saves money. Pays her bills on time.
But there’s another measure of adulthood that has so far eluded her. Ahmed, 23, moved back in with her parents after graduating college in 2022.
“There is a perception that those who live with their parents into their 20s are either bums or people who are not hard-working,” she told the Today, Explained podcast.
Being neither of those things, Ahmed and her situation actually point to a growing trend in America right now: More adults, especially younger adults, are either moving back in with family or never leaving at all.
According to the Pew Research Center, a quarter of all adults ages 25 to 34 now live in a multigenerational living situation (which it defines as a household with two or more adult generations).
It’s a number that’s been creeping upward since the early ‘70s but has swung up precipitously in the last 15 years. The decennial US Census measures multigenerational living slightly differently (three or more generations living together), but the trend still checks out. From 2010 to 2020, there was a nearly 18 percent increase in the number of multigenerational households.
…and…
I like the idea at first glance, but I’m skeptical. There are towns across America that are in similar decline because the reason for their existence is an industry that has moved on or evaporated with time. Coal mining towns come to mind too. Crumbling infrastructure is really expensive to rebuild. Possibly more so than new “clean slate” builds. Further, even if the money (which would be massive) is spent once, it needs a tax base to sustain it or it will fall into disrepair again. If we’re revitalizing homes in small towns and rural communities, is that the best use of limited resources to create more sustainable housing?
I’m a big proponent of Remote Work myself and I believe “return to office” is a waste of time and energy. I’m more on the path of taking those now empty office spaces and turning them into residences as a path forward. The infrastructure is already built, usually including well established light rail and public transportation, as well as a decent number of support businesses (shops and restaurants) already existing in former business districts where these office buildings would be. The transition of the office space itself won’t be without challenges, but the existing high quality construction of the buildings and high density of resulting residences means a faster turn around and better potential in my mind for a sustainable solution.