Young students and older people living together can enjoy benefits such as social ties and lower house prices.
Poppy Jenkinson is 23 years old. Every evening, she sits down at the dinner table with her two roommates to talk about her day: work news, drama between friends, and sometimes relationship issues.
Often your colleagues offer a different point of view. “They’re in their 70s and have been married for nearly 40,” she says. “They always share drops of wisdom.”
After graduating last year from Falmouth Unit, a small and creative university in Cornwall, southwest England, Jenkinson has struggled to find a home in Falmouth’s competitive property market. Until, while in college, he met Pete and Lee King, 70, and moved into their three-bedroom cottage on the edge of town.
It’s a private arrangement between them, but one that reflects a larger multigenerational housing trend: students and seniors living together.
In recent years, projects encouraging several generations to share residence have emerged around the world, including at universities such as Canada, California (USA) and the Netherlands.
But not all multigenerational housing experiences have a happy ending like Jenkinson’s. Research shows that reality can be more complicated.
In theory, multigenerational housing is a clever solution to two major modern problems: the lack of affordable housing for young people and growing loneliness among the elderly.
“The loneliness epidemic is a global trend, especially in countries where the population is ageing,” says Professor Patricia Collins, from the Department of Geography and Planning at Queen’s University, Canada.
Studies indicate that severe loneliness can lead to depression and suicidal thoughts, reduced heart or cardiovascular health, and even an increased risk of premature death. “This has recently been exacerbated [pela pandemia de covid-19] and blocks,” adds Collins.
On the other hand, an enormous amount of research conducted around the world highlights the growing difficulties encountered by young people in finding affordable accommodation.
In the United States, the average rent has increased 18% over the past five years, outpacing inflation. This situation is similar in other countries. And because young adults are more likely to rent than buy a home, they are especially vulnerable to these rent increases.
Research also points to the enormous impact of homelessness and its poor quality on young people’s lives, including the consequences on their health.
Collins wanted to better understand whether multigenerational housing was actually reducing homelessness and social problems. To do so, he mapped the demand for cohabitation arrangements in Kingston (Ontario, Canada), researching college students’ interest in sharing a home with a senior citizen.
In Canada, adults aged 65 and older are the fastest growing age group. Projections indicate that it should reach 23% of the population by 2030. And many older Canadians live alone.
With its waterfront views and green spaces, Kingston is Canada’s second most popular city among retirees, according to Collins. But the city is also home to a number of secondary institutions, and students compete for rent in a saturated housing market.
“Historically, [Kingston] offers students housing conditions that are far below standard,” according to her. “Now, we are seeing this problem added to rising rental values.”
At first glance, the students he interviewed seemed to like the idea of different generations sharing residences. Of the 3,800 graduate students surveyed, more than half said the university should support this type of housing.
But when asked whether they themselves would like to live this way, the results were very different. Only 13% of the students surveyed were “very” or “extremely” interested in living with older people. Reservations submitted by young people included feelings of embarrassment, inability to receive guests and a general lack of privacy.
Apparently, many liked the idea in theory, but didn’t consider it a viable option for themselves.
Collins points out that “as a society, we’re not all that used to interacting with people of other generations, unless they’re part of our immediate family.”
An exception are young people who voluntarily work with older people. The data indicates that these people may be more open to living with them as well.
Of the students attracted to the idea of cohabitation, 56% had experience working with seniors and 60% had experience volunteering with seniors. But even arrangements that make volunteering part of the package can struggle.
The Dutch coexistence project Humanitas Deventer is often cited as the first example of intergenerational harmony. It made many students join nursing homes.
Instead of paying rent, students spend 30 hours a month interacting with older residents and teaching them skills such as using email or social media.
But adding a social contract to a coexistence dynamic can pose some problems, according to Gemma Burgess, director of the Center for Planning and Housing Research at the University of Cambridge in the UK.
Burgess has been evaluating a cohabitation program in Cambridge called LinkAges. The first batch of graduate students joined the program in 2017. A student or professional looking for a cheaper rental was assigned an older person in need of care.
The expectation was that students would offer ‘light engagement’, such as helping residents with their shopping, taking care of the house or just keeping some company.
The project brought important lessons, according to Burgess. One was that supporting another person theoretically sounds simple, but it can take more time and effort than students anticipated.
During busy and stressful times, such as exam periods or writing term papers, it can be difficult for students to fit someone else’s needs into their study schedule.
“It took a lot of interventions to help relationships,” she says.
Burgess points out that multigenerational homes can be complex.
“It’s a bit idealistic to say, ‘You’re going to be playing a funny grandpa and a younger person is going to be playing a loving grandchild.’ People are much more complicated than that.”
One way to learn from past mistakes is to incorporate intergenerational housing into the campus, but add a little more distance. Seniors and students may not live in the same household, but the principles of knowledge sharing and social interaction remain.
In recent years, approximately 100 US colleges have developed retirement communities on or near campus, including facilities such as golf courses, nightclubs, and assisted living units. They are typically college alumni who are now retired and applying to be neighbors with their current classmates.
At Arizona State University, for example, a retirement home opened in 2020, almost adjacent to the student dormitories. Residents can access classes, the library and sporting events.
Returning to an inspiring learning environment can have a number of benefits. Research indicates that older adults who take college courses can boost their cognitive abilities and possibly reduce their risk of developing Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.
In Falmouth, the university is collaborating on a £170 million ($204 million) housing project known as the Pydar Street development. The project aims to integrate student spaces into the community as a whole.
Falmouth University’s head of property development Peter Howells says the building is still in the planning stages but will be a patchwork of 300 houses and 160 student apartments and dormitories.
“The site will incorporate co-living, academic learning, innovation spaces, food outlets and open spaces for [as pessoas] meet, learn and talk,” she explains.
British architectural firm PRP, which specializes in multigenerational housing, is one of the designers of the project.
For the lead architect of the Pydar Street project, Manisha Patel, one way to encourage interaction is simply to distribute the apartments according to age, with older residents on the ground floor and students on the upper floors.
“Different generations would be in connected apartments, but they wouldn’t really be living together,” she says.
A common space in the center of the building will favor the formation of relationships. “Multigenerational housing should encourage an exchange of thoughts. Generations from different sides of the spectrum have a lot of knowledge to offer,” says Patel.
For Pete King, who owns the house where Jenkinson lives, living in a multigenerational home with students has brought “tremendous rewards.”
King is chaplain of the Falmouth University Ecumenical Center. In the cottage where he lives with his wife Lee, several students have filled the empty space over the years. Both sides say they have had practical and emotional benefits.
For Jenkinson, the “family atmosphere” was the best part of the experience. The trio took turns in the kitchen, though she was always nervous when it was her turn to cook dinner.
“The Kings are great cooks, they always make cakes or risottos, while I mostly make student food like pasta or pizza,” she says.
Jenkinson paid less than market rent, while other students pay part of their rent in services, taking on jobs such as gardening.
The Kings say they enjoyed learning about new technology and student life. “You have an indescribable energy when you’re around young people,” Pete says.
Read the original version of this report (in English) on the Family Tree section of the BBC Future website.
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
