I am a Boomer and when I first wrote about the Sandwich Generation I was sandwiched between caring for my mother in the Greatest Generation (right before the Silent Generation) and helping our children and their families in Gen X. Now our adult children in Gen X are finding themselves sandwiched between their parents as we age and their children as they launch into ‘adulting’.
According to Realtor.com, roughly 1 in 6 Americans fall into this evolved sandwich generation. When they were growing up, Generation X was called the “latchkey generation,” the “MTV generation,” and the “forgotten generation.” They grew up to be more independent and self-reliant which will help them in their new roles in the current sandwich generation.
As Boomers age out of their homes, Gen X will play an important role in what happens next. Many are at peak earnings, house rich but time poor. Their generation will play a leading role in what happens to that housing stock… selling to a shrinking segment of nuclear-family buyers, being converted to apartments or adapted through ADUs… or neighborhoods gradually declining if supply and demand are no longer in alignment.
On the one hand, Gen Xers may absorb homes of their parents’ generation and help parents age in place… or consolidate households, add on to their current homes or purchase new homes that can accommodate multiple generations… or on the other hand, downsize or relocate closer to children, parents and other family members.
Generations United estimates 66.7 million adults ages 18+ in the U.S. are living in a multigenerational household; that’s more than 1 in 4 Americans. There has been a remarkably large leap in multigenerational living, from 7 percent of Americans found in their 2011 survey to 26 percent of Americans in 2021. Nearly 57% of those multigenerational households came together because of the COVID-19 pandemic… and more than 72% of those say they plan to continue doing so long term, a sign that it was a good move.
In additional to obvious financial benefits, extended families living together are finding an enriched family life with shared responsibilities and more flexible schedules. It can be said that multi-generational living is getting back to the way human beings naturally live, with extended families caring for each other.
Sharlene Hensrud, RE/MAX Results – shensrud@homesmsp.com
