Adding an In-Law Suite

Job loss and broken retirement nest eggs may encourage more Americans to consider moving in with their adult children. It’s important, however, that this new living space allows privacy and independence for all.

Combine Households

The benefits of inviting relatives to cohabit include combining incomes to maintain a single household, shutting down homes in the off-season to save on utility and maintenance costs, and creating a sense of permanence for seniors instead so they don’t feel they have to rotate among children to avoid inconveniencing any one household. And, as the old saying goes, two can eat as cheaply as one.

Data compiled by AARP, the advocacy group for people 50 and over, shows an increase in multigenerational households from 5 million, or 4.8 percent of all U.S. households, in 2000 to 6.2 million, or 5.3 percent of all households, in 2008.

From its research, AARP also notes that:

• 24 percent of baby boomers anticipate that their parents or in-laws will move in with them
• About one-half say they would be happy to have their parents or in-laws move in
• 51 percent say they would feel obligated to help in their parents’ retirement
• 17 percent would be “eager” to find their parents or in-laws another living arrangement
• 8 percent of boomers would charge their parents rent.