This report hits home with me. Growing up in a multigenerational situation (my grandparents raised me), I know the challenges that face today’s youth dealing with grandparents as their main caregivers. There are some positives, but sometimes there are very weighty issues that grandparents just do not deal with.

This surprising tread shows that the nuclear family is losing ground to multigenerational living. More people are choosing to move themselves and their children in with Mom and Dad, often to cut costs. This article found at advergirl.com is based on a survey reported here. Advergirl writes:

These households are fundamentally different than those of the care-giving Oreo Generation. In 62% of these multigenerational cases it’s the adult children who are moving back with their parents, who are the grandparents. Three-fifths of these grandparents are providing some sort of financial assistance to their fully-grown children.

Three larger trends are making this an increasingly popular choice:

* Grandparents are doing better than most financially. That’s because 55% of grandparents do not carry a mortgage, and grandparents control more than half of the country’s wealth. So while grandparents have certainly taken a hit in this economy along with everyone else, they are, in many cases, more solvent than their young married children with young children.

* Grandparents are investing in their grandchildren. According to our recent national study, The Grandparent Economy, grandparents are spending about $32 billion on their grandchildren’s education, $11 billion on clothes for the kids, $6 billion on toys, and nearly $700 million on diapers.

* Decision-making is increasingly multi-generational. Whether it’s what first car to buy, where to go to college, or who to choose for insurance, grandparent’s are increasingly part of the decision making, both with their children and their grandchildren.

This trend not only provides more financial stability for the children and grandchildren, it appears to have rewards for the grandparents as well. Many grandparents say not only that they love having their family back under their roof; they also love being needed again. They say it brings purpose to their days, and meaning to their lives. The physical demand of keeping up with the kids makes them feel younger; outdoor play burns off both calories and tension; and helping with homework provides mental stimulation.

Sources: The new influencers: Grandparents weigh in and Multigenerational Households on Rise