Multigenerational Family Living

Multigenerational living – where more than one generation of related adults cohabit in the same dwelling – is recognized as a common arrangement amongst many Asian, Middle Eastern and Southern European cultures, but this arrangement is becoming increasingly familiar in many Western societies. Much Western research on multigenerational households has highlighted young adults' delayed first home leaving, the result of difficult economic prospects and the prolonged adolescence of generation Y. This book shows that the causes and results of this phenomenon are more complex.

The book sheds fresh light on a range of structural and social drivers that have led multigenerational families to cohabit and the ways in which families negotiate the dynamic interactions amongst these drivers in their everyday lives. It critically examines factors such as demographics, the environment, culture and family considerations of identity, health, care and well-being, revealing how such factors reflect (and are reflected by) a retracting welfare state and changing understandings of families in an increasingly mobile world.

Based on a series of qualitative and quantitative research projects conducted in Australia, the book provides an interdisciplinary examination of intergenerational cohabitation that explores a variety of concerns and experiences. It will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in housing, demographics and the sociology of the family.

“"Although this book is focussed on Australia the content should be of interest to readers around the world. Multigenerational Family Living is a world-wide phenomenon- normal in some countries but a more recent development in some western societies (if you ignore housing history) where housing shortages have forced families to house multiple generations. The book explores those housing market contexts but it also rightly focusses on the lived reality of multigenerational living and the impact this has on the nature of families. The editors have brought the 11 chapters together into an important volume which provides real insights into worlds which many researchers now have only a modest understanding." - Peter Williams, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, UK.”

"Although this book is focussed on Australia the content should be of interest to readers around the world. Multigenerational Family Living is a world-wide phenomenon- normal in some countries but a more recent development in some western societies (if you ignore housing history) where housing shortages have forced families to house multiple generations. The book explores those housing market contexts but it also rightly focusses on the lived reality of multigenerational living and the impact this has on the nature of families. The editors have brought the 11 chapters together into an important volume which provides real insights into worlds which many researchers now have only a modest understanding." – Peter Williams, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, UK.

Edgar Liu is a Research Fellow at the City Futures Research Centre, Faculty of Built Environment, UNSW Australia (University of New South Wales).

Hazel Easthope is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and Senior Research Fellow at City Futures Research Centre, Faculty of Built Environment, UNSW Australia.

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