It depends on whether the family is functional or dysfunctional and many situational factors but generally, it's beneficial because a multi-generational family unit can often do more for each person involved than a single or two generation household can.
For instance, a three generation household can a be a benefit to older family members as well as enable younger family members to go to work and or college and benefit from the wisdom of older members. Older members may benefit from being around younger family members in a variety of ways. It's a much more enriched family life in many but not all cases.
Are multi-generational households beneficial?
kir
2012/07/23 13:43:26
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In America, as in many modern western nations, chances are, as soon
as you turn a certain age, generally 18 in America, you leave home, go
off to college, and start your own family leaving your old one behind.
Sure you may visit once in a while, but you are now part of a separate
family. This contrasts greatly
with multi-generational families of many traditional societies. Often as
many as three generations in traditional societies will live together.
This
was true during the pre-industrial period in the United States as well
to a large extent; if you ever go into some of the really old houses in
this country, you'll find that while they have small rooms, there are a
large number of these rooms. That is because grandparents, parents, and
children would often live in the same house.
Read more here: http://politicoid.blogspot.com/2012/07/an-analysis-of-multi-g...
Read More: http://politicoid.blogspot.com/2012/07/an-analysis...
Top Opinion
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KarenInKenoshaWisconsin 2012/07/23 23:08:30
Someone asked me when my granddaughter was born, if being a grandmother made me feel old. I told them, honestly, I haven't felt this young in years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?...
(Oh and before someone takes this out of context and says I'm being racist OBVIOUSLY I'm not implying jim crow or wiping out natives was OK I'm just saying the US was more or less on the ascent then and less dysfunctional in a lot of ways.)
Great question. There aren't a lot of those on here.
It's a shame I've only managed to get 29 votes, even though I have over 1,000 "friends".
The two generations in the middle, those who are not still involved in their education, are our primary financial providers.
It works well for us.
For instance, a three generation household can a be a benefit to older family members as well as enable younger family members to go to work and or college and benefit from the wisdom of older members. Older members may benefit from being around younger family members in a variety of ways. It's a much more enriched family life in many but not all cases.
The youngest of my friends (actually a friend's son) living with his parents is 24, and his father told me that this geek prepared a Power Point presentation explaining how getting a job would interfere with his personal time -This dolt plays video games all day!
I've yet to see any long-term benefit of generational dependency.
The reverse of independent living is a clear example of the lower standard of living as seen in other countries.
You are assuming that mult-generational households produce people that do not work, but in fact it is generally the parents that work while the grand parents are at home taking care of the children in multi-generational families.
Multi-generational dwellings were a sign of poverty in most Western countries.
In Japan, young adults often leave home to work and never return because that is a clear sign of failure. I've seen entire villages made up of only retirees waiting to die, whose children won't even contact them.
I grew up in a time when people had large families because children were cheap labor on the plantations and free labor around the house. Nowadays the child labor laws make for millions of idle brats whose only concern is entertainment.
We learned a lot from them, family history as well as home and work skills they passed on to us.
Unfortunately, stress, poverty, too much authority or abuse and a precarious situation can make cohabitation problematic, and too little space for each one is uneasy.