Thursday, October 25, 2012

Minorities More Multigenerational

Multigenerational households have gotten a lot of press lately, thanks to their rise during the Great Recession. Despite the media attention, they are not all that common. In the 2009-2011 time period, only 4.3 million of the nation's 76 million family households were home to three or more generations--or 5.6 percent. The Census Bureau defines a multigenerational household as one that includes three or four generations (grandparents, parents, and children, and possibly great-grandparents). Not included are households in which parents live with adult children.

Probably the most interesting thing about multigenerational households is how their importance varies among Asians, blacks, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites. Take a look at the share of family households that are multigenerational by race and Hispanic origin:

Asian: 9.4%
Black: 9.5%
Hispanic: 10.3%
Non-Hispanic white: 3.7%

These numbers reflect both economic and cultural differences among race and Hispanic origin groups. The Census Bureau report examines the multigenerational share of households by state, and by race and Hispanic origin within states. Among Hispanics, for example, the multigenerational share of family households ranges from a low of 2.3 percent in North Dakota to a high of 12.7 percent in California.

Source: Census Bureau, Multigenerational Households: 2009-2011

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