The ‘Smart’ Approach to Intergenerational Living

by | Nov 1, 2019 | All, Women and Men Cooperation at Home | 0 comments

“Driving up and down the motorway or flying overseas can be stressful and expensive for families wanting to visit loved ones after moving away to follow career paths. So it’s hardly surprising that families are increasingly opting for multi-generational living, where pooling resources can mean a higher standard of living for all with two or more generations of a family able to afford a bigger and more attractive home. A recent study indicated that the number of multigenerational households in the UK will increase to 2.2 million by 2025, a rise of more than 30%.

While the boomerang generation accounts for the biggest increase, with adult children returning to live with their parents to save up for a deposit for their own home, many elderly couples are more than happy to house share with their children and grandchildren while still maintaining a high degree of independence. The benefit for working parents is having live-in childcare at hand, while the grandparents have the advantage of emotional and practical support if needed and closeness to their grandchildren.

The logistics of shared living spaces and the design of the inter-generational home is the focus for architects, who are coming up with ‘smart’ solutions to accommodate the needs of several generations living in one home. At an experts meeting organised by the Home Renaissance Foundation addressing ‘The Home in the Digital Age’, Professor Mohamed Gamal Abdelmonem confirmed that over 27% of the population in the EU will be above the age of 65 by 2025, leading to “care becoming an essential domestic activity, with intergenerational dependence and mobility informing the socio-spatial systems of modern homes.” of multigenerational households in the UK will increase to 2.2 million by 2025, a rise of more than 30%.

Prof Abdelmonem, who is Chair in Architecture at Nottingham Trent University, told the meeting at the Royal Society of Medicine in London “that to be sustainable and central to family living, homes need to revisit their roles as private spaces, and integrate technologies that are family-friendly with clear ethical and moral principles.“ He cautioned on the need to retain privacy and “design homes with a network of spaces (indoor and outdoor) that a person uses routinely as a haven with a high degree of comfort and intimacy. Attempts to interact with people at their home territories without following the settled code of action, such as knocking on the door, is considered an unjustifiable intrusion,” he said. Prof. Abdelmonem acknowledged the usefulness of technology with “eMedicine applications, working from home, digital media for studying at home and assisted living for older people.”

Research has shown that children need four to six involved, caring adults in their lives to fully develop emotionally and socially. With the problem of children spending too much time with friends on social media and not enough one-on-one time with adults, what better way to redress the balance than having live-in,doting grandparents!”

Rosemary Roscoe-Home Renaissance Blog

 

 

 

 

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