Multi-generational homes increasing; CT below national average

The number of multi-generational households - grandparents, parents and children living together under the same roof - has been steadily increasing in recent years, though not as much in Connecticut.  More than 4.3 million, or 5.6 percent, of the 76 million family households in the U.S. today are families living together that include a grandparent, parent and children as well as other family members, according to a study by the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The nationwide average of 5.6 percent compares with 3.7 percent of U.S. households that were multi-generational in 2000 and 4 percent in 2010. The American Community Survey conducts small-area estimates on a wide range of statistics about people and housing for every community across the country and Puerto Rico. Among the latest findings:

• There were more than 76 million family households in the United States. Of these, about 4.3 million (5.6 percent) were multi-generational households.
• In the Northeast, only New Jersey (6 percent) and New York (6.5 percent) had percentages above the national level.  Connecticut showed 5.1 percent, or an estimated 46,357 multi-generational households.  Massachusetts also had 5.1 percent, as did Rhode Island.
• Hawaii had the highest percentage of multi-generational households, accounting for 11.1 percent of all family households in that state.
• More than 85 percent of states where the percentage of family households that were multi-generational exceeded the national average were in the South or West, where more than 85 percent of states in those areas exceeding the national level. Southern states with percentages above the national level included the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi and Texas, all ranging from 5.9 percent to 7.3 percent. Western states with large numbers of multi-generational homes included Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and New Mexico, each ranging from 6.2 percent to 11.1 percent.
• The state with the smallest percentage of multi-generational households was North Dakota, with around 2 percent.

Among multi-generational households, the majority (64.6 percent) included a householder, a child of the householder and a grandchild of the householder. Thirty-four percent contained a householder, a parent or parent-in-law and a child. Only 1.7 percent contained a parent or parent-in-law, a householder, a child of the householder and a grandchild of the householder.

Among multi-generational households nationally, nearly 65 percent included a head of household, a child and a grandchild. Thirty-four percent of multi-generational households contained a head of household, a parent or parent-in-law and a child, and those households tended to be in the Northeast and West. Only 1.7 percent of multi-generational households contained a parent or parent-in-law, a head of household, a child and a grandchild.

Nationwide, more than 10 percent of Hispanic and American Indian and Alaska Native households were multi-generational, while more than 9 percent of Black and Asian households were multi-generational.