Five-bedrooms, 10 people. Three families, all related, are calling one house their home. Six adults share the burden of feeding 3 small children and an elderly aunt, and paying the $3,500 in monthly rent. Agnes Tiongson says living together has helped them survive the recession. “It's practial for us to stay together. We help each other to go by,” Tiongson said. Next door, there are even more family members: The Tiongsons' cousin, Mel, his wife, their teenage children, Mel's cousins, and Mel's mother, Luming Tiongson. Luming says she's glad to be surrounded by so many family members. “Mas masaya kung magkakasama kayong magpapamilya sa iisang bubong,” Luming said. Recent studies from the Pew Research Center show that 1 in 6 people now live in a multi-generational household in America. That's 30% more since 2000. With recent news that the recession is not over yet, and that the number of defaults are still rising for homeowners who got help from the government to modify their home loans, multi-generational homes likely are a trend that may continue to grow as the baby boomer generation ages. Among ethnic groups, Asians have the highest number of multi-generational households. Social worker Teresa Tan says multi-generational households can have its challenges. “Sometimes there are culture clashes. The eleders from the Philippines are conservative but the values of their grandchildren who are raised here are different. So there's a conflict,,” Tan said. But for the Tiongsons, nothing beats being around family. Romy Tiongson said, “We have to stay together, for better or for worse.” – ABS
