Your Mother In Law
A President and his Mother in Law
Multi-generational housing is one of the big up and coming growth areas.
It turns out that even the White House now qualifies as “intergenerational housing” since the President’s mother-in-law moved in.
Who knew that the mother-in-law room would become so trendy?
A Coldwell Banker survey of its sales staff found multi-generational homes as a burgeoning trend for homebuyers and sellers alike. Response to the poll found that in the past 12 months:
- 37% of the 2,360 Coldwell Banker agents polled noted increases in homebuyers looking to purchase homes to accommodate more than one generation of their family.
- 39% of homebuyers or sellers who are moving into a house with other generations of their family did so with financial considerations as primary reason for the move.
- 29% cited care issues as primary reason.
6% cited a strong family bond.
Read the whole article here.
When I talk to people about ageism I usually ask them to name everyone who lives in the White House. After the President and First Lady, people proudly recite the names of the Obama children and Bo, the first dog. Rarely do people remember that Marian Robinson lives there as well. My guess is that it does not interest our society as much as say, what store the children’s clothes come from. (the media reports they shop at J Crew).
Though it may never sell newspapers or increase viewer ratings, what an opportunity our society is missing by not recognizing the role of a grandmother in raising children in the White House.
Ageism strikes again.
The concept of “intergenerational housing” is very intriguing to me. I feel like, although the article may not say so, there is a difference between housing being “intergenerational” and housing being “multi-generational”. Multi-generational housing simply could be people of different generations living together, inter-generational housing implies that the housing members are working together and living in some sort of symbiotic relationship.
Look at health and aging practices. A multi-disciplinary team is simply different professionals who share the same patient or client. On the other hand, a inter-disciplinary team is one whom are working together on a client. For example, the drugs a pharmacist assigns work with the nutrition plan that the nutritionist develops. All members of the team meet and work together in one unit instead of separate parts.
This brings me back to housing. It easy to say that because Obama’s mother in law lives with him, that the housing is intergenerational. But if Michelle’s mom doesn’t have a good, working, relationship with the family, it shouldnt be called that. Its also interesting to see its impact on the housing market due to the fact that homes with more rooms are now more important now that the younger generation have assumed the role of care-taker.
The article linked is an interesting read though, its not often I think about the housing market in Southern Californa