Multigenerational Living on the Rise in Australia Amid Cost of Living Crisis

“I don’t know how many requests I’ve sent. It just feels so ridiculous,” the 24-year-old told the ABC.

One day he went to look at a property with his grandmother, Debbie.

“The shape of the property is a yurt, like a big tent,” said Debbie.

“And the owner is asking A$370 (about Rp3.7 million) per week in rent for such a small tent.”

Debbie was shocked by what her granddaughter was going through and suggested that Isis move in with her.

“I said you can stay with me and that A$370 you can save.”

With that, both of them benefited.

“I’ve lived alone for almost eight years. It’s very lonely and expensive to be alone.” said Debbie.

The rising cost of living in Australia is having a big impact on retirees like Debbie.

He has struggled to pay expenses such as electricity and heating bills, and has had to cut back on food spending as prices for basic commodities continue to soar.

Debbie fears she will have to sell the house she has lived in since 1981 and move to a less expensive area, but away from her family and friends.

Even though she doesn’t have to pay rent, living with her granddaughter Isis has reduced Debbie’s costs to half.

“It really helps. I’m grateful and happy to have him here. I think my standard of living has gotten a little better. I can have heat now,” said Debbie.

Isis, who plans to return to university to study nursing, says this will save her money too.

But more than that, he really enjoyed spending time with his grandmother.

“I think this is perfect for us,” said Isis.

“Because we’ve always had a good connection, we understand each other and that makes things easier.”

The boomerang generation

According to the Australian Institute of Family Studies, around 25 per cent of young people who previously left their parents’ homes are now returning home during the COVID pandemic.

In a country like Australia, most children when they turn 18 decide to live independently outside their parents’ home, for various reasons.

Now multigenerational family life is increasingly common in Australia.

“It’s about 20 percent,” said Edgar Liu of the University of New South Wales.

“The most common reasons are cost of living and finances. This includes things like paying a co-living fee, or finding a more economical way of living and whatnot.

In Dr Liu’s research, the inability to buy a house or pay rent was the main reason young people between the ages of 20 and 30 returned to their parents’ homes.

He said there was not much data available on how many young people returned home because their parents or grandparents were experiencing economic hardship.

However, his research shows that multigenerational households are more common among families with a lower middle class economy.

Multigenerational family life is more common in families with multicultural backgrounds or in families with similar prior experiences.

“We asked them what they liked and didn’t like about this kind of lifestyle,” said Dr Liu.

“Although most of them said it was for financial reasons, it wasn’t the main thing they were most passionate about. It was at the bottom of the list.

“The main thing they like is living together with others. So when they return home, the house is not empty, there is no one else.”

Multigenerational families will only increase

Dr Liu said statistical evidence showed the pattern of multigenerational family living together under one roof would continue, at least in Australia.

“Looking back to the global financial crisis for example, in both the US and UK, the number of these multigenerational families doubled in the first few years after the crisis, before then returning to normal afterwards,” he said.

“We’re going to see this phenomenon continue for a variety of different reasons.”

But currently housing developers have not adapted quickly enough to respond to the needs of multigenerational families, said Dr Liu.

“It’s not just about how big a house is, it’s about design too.”

Dr Liu said that most of the current house designs are “open plan living” where there are no partitions between rooms so that the rooms are more open, actually not suitable for adults living under the same roof.

“We need flexibility, like sliding doors that can be used when needed, or completely separate rooms,” he said.

“Many townships now allow the construction of separate houses behind the main house, and that helps a lot.”

“Separation of physical life without them living too far apart.”

This article was produced by Sastra Wijaya from ABC News.