Fighting Poverty in a Tough Economy, Americans Move in With Their Relatives

October 3, 2011

Large numbers of Americans enacted their own anti-poverty program in the depths of the Great Recession: They moved in with relatives. This helped fuel the largest increase in modern history in the number of Americans living in multi-generational households. From 2007 to 2009, the total spiked from 46.5 million to 51.4 million.

Living with extended family appears to be a financial lifeline for many. Although their adjusted incomes overall are lower, the poverty rate among people living in multi-generational households is substantially smaller than for those in other households -- 11.5% vs. 14.6% in 2009, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data.

Moreover, the potential benefits of living in multi-generational households are greatest for the groups that have been most affected by the Great Recession. Among the unemployed, the poverty rate in 2009 was 17.5% for those living in multi-generational households, compared with 30.3% for those living in other households. Members of other economically vulnerable groups -- young adults, Hispanics and blacks -- who live in extended families also experience sharply lower poverty rates than those in other households.

Read the full report for more details, including:

• The demographics of multigenerational households

• The increase in young adults moving back in with families

• Trends for racial and ethnic groups

• Levels of household income and poverty rates

• How income is shared in multigenerational households

Related Pew Reports:

Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks, Hispanics

Childhood Poverty Among Hispanics Sets Record, Leads Nation

No Consensus About Whether Nation Is Divided Into 'Haves' and 'Have-Nots'

Two Years of Economic Recovery: Women Lose Jobs, Men Find Them

How the Great Recession Has Changed Life in America