Page 98 - enLIGHTenment Magazine - January 2017

2017 housing Trends

Make Way for the

EXTENDED FAMILY

According to a recent study conducted by Michela Zonta

for The Center for American Progress, the number and size

of households that are larger than the typical nuclear family

have increased.

F
or much of the middle of

the 20th Century, nuclear

families – married couples
with single children under

the age of 18 – were the most
common household demographic.

However, just as the population has

changed (with more racial and ethnic
diversity), so has the composition of

those households.
Examples of extended families

include: families with adult children

returning to the nest for nancial
support; families taking care of a dis-

abled or widowed parent; and families
that have taken in siblings or other

relatives including grandchildren. Ac-

cording to the Center for American
Progress report, the U.S. population

living in extended families increased
from 58 million in 2001 to 85 million

in 2014 and represents 17 percent of

all households.
As American households undergo

these demographic changes – includ-
ing the aging of the Baby Boomers and

the increasing presence of Millennials

in urban areas – there is a growing mar-
ket of consumers looking for homes

that can accommodate extended and
multi-generational families.

96 enLIGHTenment Magazine | january 2017
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