Gregoria Casiano, 81, of Brooklyn, N.Y., may soon lose her home to foreclosure. (Photo: Mark Lennihan/Associated Press)
Americans are an independent bunch. Once we fly the nest, we often don't return, with children sometimes relocating across the country, and grandchildren and grandparents only seeing each other occasionally and on holidays.
It looks like things are changing, though, as the economy is having at least one beneficial result: Today's economic hard times, foreclosures and jobs losses are bringing families closer together. Families are moving in together -- adults with their parents, siblings with brothers and sisters and seniors with their grown children -- and are pooling their financial resources.
USA Today reports that 76 percent of homeowners and renters who've lost their homes to foreclosure have moved in with family and friends, according to an April 2008 study by the National Coalition for the Homeless. The publication also notes that according to 2007 Census Data, almost 3.5 million brothers or sisters were sharing a sibling's house, an increase from 3 million in 2000; 3.6 million parents were living with their grown children, a jump from 2.3 million; and 6.7 million people were living with other relatives, up from 4.8 million in 2000.
CBS5.com notes that according to a recent Grandparents.com survey, 65 percent of people expect that more intergenerational families will share the same house, thanks to the economy. The CBS story includes personal stories and a video about families who've come to share a home as they struggle to make ends meet.
It's heartening to read how so many families are coming together during this economic crisis, and no doubt more families will become closer because of it. I lived with my mother-in-law for a time when my husband was in graduate school, and she came to live with us when our children were born. We had our struggles, but now I can be happy that I got to know her better than I would have had we only visited on occasion, and my children have fond memories of living with and being cared for by their grandmother -- memories they wouldn't have if we had lived a distance apart.
Perhaps more families will establish stronger ties and reconnect during this time, and we'll all be stronger for it.—Lauren Baier Kim