CORRECTION: The original version of this report incorrectly stated comparative figures from the 2010 Census and the 2009-2011 American Community Survey.
Multigenerational households in the U.S. are on the rise, fueled in large part by cultural traditions held by a booming diverse immigrant population as well as a stagnant economy that has forced many grandparents, their adult children — and their kids — back together.
A comparison of 2000 and 2010 census data found that overall, the percentage of miltigenerational households had grown from 3.7 percent to 4.0 percent.
Between 2009 and 2011, 5.6 percent of the family households included in the American Community Survey were multigenerational, according to a brief on the results released this week by the Census Bureau. That's 4.3 million multigenerational households among those in the survey.
More than 10 percent of Hispanic and American Indian and Native Alaskan households were multigenerational, the ACS brief said. About 9 percent of Asian and black households were multigenerational, compared to just 3.7 percent of non-Hispanic white family homes.
"Partly that's because of the Great Recession, but I'd say most of the growth in multigenerational households is because of the increase in Hispanics and other immigrants," Cheryl Russell, former editor in chief of American Demographics, told USA Today. "A lot of Asian families assume that their aging parents will live with them."