Multigenerational Households Are Influencing North American Retail Trends
Marketing strategies need to include families with adult kids and grandparents under the same roof.
The average family home looks very different today than in years past. According to recent data, a record 64 million Americans and 2.2 million Canadians are currently living in multigenerational homes, and this trend shows no sign of slowing down.
As the cost of living in most major cities increases, populations continue to live longer and the ethnocultural composition in both countries steadily shifts, various industries are making the necessary adjustments to accommodate the related societal changes. For example, real estate developers are adapting their home designs to create more appropriate living spaces to accommodate grandparents, parents and children, but what does having more generations under one roof mean for retailers?
Living with parents was the most common living arrangement for Americans aged 18-34 in 2016, and this trend showed an increase across all racial groups. Additionally, 10 percent of children under 18 were growing up with a grandparent in the house at that time. Similar trends have been reported in Canada, where 34.7 percent of young adults aged 20 to 34 were living with at least one parent in 2016, and independent living rates continue to drop.
