Multiple Adult Households the Norm In Some Places Already

The people (Russian immigrants) who lived in my house before were two middle-aged brothers and their adult sons. The people here now are 2 adult couples. Across the street-? Arlene’s family, including her husband, brother, and 2 adult children– 1 with her husband, all live together in this very modest house (which is getting an add-on room this year for obvious reasons.) Most of them have jobs, but mostly contracting (building trades) and part-time. The only property past us that’s up into the forest across the street is a multiple generational family shared place on several acres with 3 small ranch houses and 2 garages on a shared loop driveway. Down the street, every single home I’ve had a chance to observe has at least 3 or 4 adults sharing expenses and chores (these are all multiple acre lots– ours may be the smallest of them.)

I’ve yet to come across a 20th Century “Nuclear Family” with just one set of adults and their children, let alone a single parent household. The closest I can find are the soon-to-be-retirees next door, but for them it is a vacation home for summers and holidays only. They are the major exception to the rule in an area where the only way you can afford a decent home, let alone one with some land attached, is to share it with other adults.

I’ve said that much of Harmony Hills consists of retirees. Well, it seems pretty obvious from what I’m seeing that most retirees have adult children and/or grandchildren living with them around here. So much for “empty nests!”

I’m thinking that ideal and norm of 1 set of adults per household is indeed a side effect of the fuel glut of the 20th Century. Before then, it was more common to find multiple generations in one home, or to take on boarders, or have roommates. Now we’re slowly going back to that lifestyle.

Where I live is, as I’ve previously noted, an “already crashed” county, full of poverty and unemployment. Yet people live here– all over the place. I’ve seen 2 small recent (90s?) housing developments in town (one on the edge of Harmony, the other in Misery) but in general, most dwellings here are older and there’s not a lot of new investments. People are hanging on and doing what they can to keep expenses down and share what’s left to pay.

The past is the future. I’m seeing it first hand for myself right here.