An interesting US social trend spotted in the NYT:
In a society where the most common type of household is led by those who live alone and where the scattered family is almost a cultural institution, many grandparents, adult children and grandchildren are gathering to live under the same roof.
The last census showed these "multigenerational households" — defined as those of three or more generations — growing faster than any other type of housing arrangement.
The number of multigenerational households is still relatively small: 4.2 million, or 4 percent of all types. But they grew by 38 percent from 1990 to 2000, and professionals in real estate and the building industry say the trend has accelerated since then.
OK, 4% of all households is hardly a major social transformation, but the growth is notable, as is the underlying cultural implications:
"There's a financial aspect, but also people are realizing the importance of staying connected to their roots," said Donna M. Butts, executive director of Generations United, which promotes interaction among generations. "Families have been scattered for so many years, and there's a reversal of that trend."
Now Ms. Butts may have a vested interest in saying inter-generational connectivity is increasing (that's her buisness, after all), but if what she says is true, the whole thing has a Confucian feel to to. What are those social "roots?"
The noble-minded cultivate roots. When roots are secure, the Way is born. To honor parents and elders - isn't that the root of Humanity? (Analects 1.2)
I know: the current multigenerational living trend is not driven solely by children caring for their parents, though that is part of it. It is also about parents continuing to care for children, twenty- and thirty-somethings who cannot find jobs that pay enough to afford housing in expensive suburbs. Whatever. The thing that matters in all of this is not so much which generation is taking the lead as it is the emphasis on building social security from inside out, from within the family outward to society at large. If that is what is going on in all of this, Confucius would be happy. His "greatest ambition" was a multigenerational vision:
To comfort the old, to trust my friends, and to cherish the young. (Analects 5.25)
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