More Families, Friends, sharing homes
3 replies
padre31Luxury BoxOPFrom 2005 to 2009, family households added about 3.8 million extended family members, from adult siblings and in-laws to cousins and nephews. Extended family members now make up 8.2% of family households, up from 6.9% in 2005, according to Census data out this week.
There are also signs of a shift from family households. For the first time in more than a century, more than half of people aged 25 to 34 have never been married.
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• Watkinsville, Ga. —Christine Burgoyne's daughter and her four children moved a lot and often stayed with her parents between moves.
When her daughter settled down with her current husband, Burgoyne and her husband decided to find a house they could all live in.
"First thing we did is we made a list of what our criteria would be," says Burgoyne, 59, a program coordinator at the University of Georgia in nearby Athens. "We wanted separate quarters … (and) a neighborhood where the kids could play outside."
Burgoyne found a 2,600-square-foot home that has a large, well-lit basement. She and her husband turned it into their apartment, including a kitchen and work room.
"So far, it's been really good," Burgoyne says. "I don't spend much time upstairs at all but the kids spend an awful lot of time downstairs."
• Sylvania, Ohio — Jane Korte's son and daughter-in-law couldn't keep up with their mortgage when he was laid off from his well-paying job as a construction superintendent. They sold their home at a loss. Korte, a widow, was happy to let them, their two kids and three dogs move in.
"I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason," says Korte, 56, an administrative manager. "Overall, it's been a really good experience. … I have a wonderful relationship with my son."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2010-09-29-doubling-up_N.htm
Well, no surprise and it probably is a good trend overall as shared domiciles means reduced costs per person, this is one of the effects of a shrinking Economy, in order to maximize reduced income, the cost side of the ledger is the clearest target to reduce.
The downside being, the demand for consumables will also shrink as pooled consumer goods and services such as TV's and internet connections means there is no need for duplication.
One cable connection serves the whole household instead of 2 or 3 separate ones.
I'd also think grocery stores would be patronized less and Bulk Goods clubs and co-ops would offer a better source of the large amount of food and household products required to maintain such extended households.
Heh, we had to do this ourselves while waiting for our house to sell for a year. We rented out a basement of another house that the family had turned into an apartment to help with mortgage costs. What a great idea, although sucks you'd have to worry about dealing with renters, being "quiet" while living next to someone, etc.
Of course I guess it could be worse - you could be living WITH your extended family like in the article. :lol:
I don't know how long it will be until I buy again. Right now we're renting and it's hard to see any downside. My rent is less than my mortgage was, my rent dollars get me more quality of apartment for the $$ than my mortgage payments bought me of house, i don't have to worry about repairs, appliances, lawn maintenance, etc. The best part is if I ever decide to move, I'm not out thousands of dollars being upside down on a house and waiting 12+ months for it to sell in a crappy market.
I remember the period of time where you wanted to buy a house because mortgage payments were less than rent of an equally-sized apartment, you could build equity, home values were ever-increasing, etc.... nowadays, not so much! :lol:
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EshlemonForum Veteran"padre31 wrote:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2010-09-29-doubling-up_N.htm
Well, no surprise and it probably is a good trend overall as shared domiciles means reduced costs per person, this is one of the effects of a shrinking Economy, in order to maximize reduced income, the cost side of the ledger is the clearest target to reduce.
The downside being, the demand for consumables will also shrink as pooled consumer goods and services such as TV's and internet connections means there is no need for duplication.
One cable connection serves the whole household instead of 2 or 3 separate ones.
I'd also think grocery stores would be patronized less and Bulk Goods clubs and co-ops would offer a better source of the large amount of food and household products required to maintain such extended households.
Yes, do not see how this would be a good thing for recovery expected to be made purely by increased consumption.
But over the last 30 years our new home size has increased from 1740 to 2438 square feet so there should be plenty of room to help with those extended families concerns texasPHINSfan pointed out.:lol: Can't need all that room just because we're a lot fatter. And would help pay for all the extra money that had to be spent on furnishings, energy, etc.
padre31Luxury Box"Eshlemon wrote:
Yes, do not see how this would be a good thing for recovery expected to be made purely by increased consumption.
But over the last 30 years our new home size has increased from 1740 to 2438 square feet so there should be plenty of room to help with those extended families concerns texasPHINSfan pointed out.:lol: Can't need all that room just because we're a lot fatter. And would help pay for all the extra money that had to be spent on furnishings, energy, etc.
Well, consumption (funny how consumption used to mean cancer back in the day?) for some items won't drop, consumption for other items will, but so will efficiency.
Heating and cooling a home instead of having 2 or 3 homes will now involve one home for example, and the unutilized capacity of the large homes will now be used.
What was the term?
Nuclear Families?
Bigger picture though, imho this will work and help to ride out the current Troubles, but Americans are a restless people, once things settle down the trend will move closer to being flat.