They're Getting It Wrong -- Family 3.0 for Beginners - Jerry Shereshewsky

An article in the Washington Post last week talked about the need for baby boomers to begin thinking about creating multigenerational households with their children and grandchildren now that the oldest of them are approaching 65 Pretty good thinking and even some relevant analysis but unfortunately they got it wrong Multigenerational families are not something that will happen in the future but are in fact happening right now We call it Family 30There are a number of factors driving this trend includingamp183 Longer living parents of today39s boomers are creating a 39sandwich generation39 where 50 something boomers are caring for their increasingly elderly parents while still taking care of their not so young children This has of course been exacerbated by the tough economic timesamp183 The growing existence of multigenerational families among our largest immigrant groups Latin Americans and SE Asiansamp183 The relative financial health of today39s 39older39 generations means that for every older person moving in with their kids 2 kids are moving in with their older parents Half of all grandparents who own their own homes are carrying NO mortgage This makes this kind of new family structure even more attractiveThis kind of multigenerational family unit is not something new just something that took a vacation since WWII The relative prosperity of the post war years and the increasing life spans enabled many to head off to Florida and Arizona and wherever else But we had been multigenerational for the entirety of our history until then and are likely to be againamp8230with some interesting changes1 As our life expectancy takes us into our eighties in relatively good health we will not be needing all that much help and will want relative independence in terms of much of our living situation So things like separate kitchens or at least separate times for using them separate transportation and a certain degree of privacy will be critical This explains why larger older houses with servant quarters or 39mother in law suites39 are so desirable2 A more equitable balance in control will develop With the older generation still providing a significant share of the spending power and maybe the housing power too they will no longer be seen as a burden by their children3 Even as the older generation gradually stops working full time they will generally be healthier longer than their parents This will enable them to play a more active role with their grandchildren than the previous generation couldSignificant sociological changes sometimes sneak up on us as this one certainly has The combination of longevity economics and history are just compelling Say hellow to Family 30Jerry Shereshewsky has formed a new marketing consultant firm GrownUpMarketing to help agencies and marketing companies strategically understand the 45 market and the relevance to their particular brands Jerry can be reached at jerrygrownupmarketingcomRead all Jerryamp8217s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Rants ampamp Raves from the Heart of AdvertisingCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerMediaBizBloggers is an openthought leadership blog platform for media marketing and advertising professionals companies and organizations To contribute contact Jackmediadvisorygroupcom The opinions expressed in MediaBizBloggerscom are not those of Media Advisory Group its employees or other MediaBizBloggerscom contributors Media Advisory Group accepts no responsibility for the views of MediaBizBloggers authors

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They're Getting It Wrong -- Family 3.0 for Beginners - Jerry Shereshewsky

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