Wanna Live Longer? Consider this.

It’s no secret that the pandemic changed the world in many ways.  Initially, if separate generations did not already live together, it was not uncommon for grandparents to keep their distance from their grandkids to prevent getting sick.  Especially as kids started going back to school and recreational activities, older individuals were warned to be extra cautious to avoid picking up germs from kids. 

Now that the pandemic has passed, there is a large population of grandparents who are looking to make up for some of that lost time.  When you think about it, there are many reasons why grandparents moving closer to their grandkids can be beneficial not only to themselves but to their kids and their grandkids as well.

Aside from the obvious bonding and relationship building between grandparent and grandchild, the logistical support and financial help to the parents is huge. Consider the costs of childcare, and imagine that being extremely reduced or even eliminated completely by having a grandparent provide that support instead.

This also leads to the benefit of bonding the younger generation to the older one and having the ability for the grandparents to share and pass along their traditions and values.  This bonding reduces the isolation that older generations can be prone to feeling in their golden years, which improves their quality of life and could even help them live longer and maintain a healthier and more active lifestyle.

And how can this impact the housing market?  Well, if grandparents are moving to be closer to their grandkids, that means they could be selling the larger homes they have lived in for years, putting that prime real estate on the market for the first time in many years, decades even.  They could be downsizing into a smaller home for themselves, they could end up moving into a senior community, or they could even be moving into their children’s homes in a spare room or an ADU.  All of these things have impacts and are part of the tapestry of a housing market.

To conclude, most societies across the world think we are kind of nuts with how everyone lives in separate homes across generations. A great book that discusses this is “The Blue Zones” which it studies centenarians (people who live to 100) and anthropologists study where they cluster around the world. Generational overlaps is one of the main factors for longevity. People have less stress, better blood pressure and lower rates of cancer and dementia in old age when they have close familial ties. For me, this is a super interesting topic.

Has anyone recently moved in or had their parents move back in with them?