Extended families still strong in Hawai'i

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Multigenerational families make up 8.2 percent of Hawai'i's 403,000 households, a proportion more than double the national figure of 4 percent, the U.S. Census Bureau said today.

Hawai'i led the nation in extended households, followed by California with 6 percent and Mississippi with 5.2 percent.

Nationally, there are 3.9 million multigenerational households, the bureau found.

This is the first time the census bureau has analyzed multigenerational living — households consisting of three or more generations of parents and their children.

It found that two-thirds of all multigenerational households, or 2.6 million, consisted of a parent and his or her children and grandchildren. One-third of the total, or 1.3 million, consisted of a parent, his or her children and one or more in-laws.

Another 78,000 households consisted of four generations.

In Kane'ohe, the Chong household fits neatly into the new Census study. Even though Jackie Chong is nine years into retirement, her home is still bustling with kids.

First her daughter and grandson moved into her five-bedroom home. Then two other adult grandsons came, looking to save money.

"I would think it would just be awfully dull with (only) my husband and I ... living together," said Chong, who heads a grandparents support group in Kane'ohe.

Demographer Tavia Simmons, who co-authored the study, said it is a very basic look at an interesting trend.

"Multigenerational families are more likely to reside in areas of recent immigration, where new immigrants may live with their relatives," Simmons said. "They also are more common in areas where housing shortages or high costs may force families to double up their living arrangements or in areas with relatively high rates of out-of-wedlock childbearing, where unwed mothers live with their children in their parents' home."

But Simmons said the context is lacking because this is the first study of its kind for the bureau. And the 2000 Census only had seven questions related to the topic, so information is limited, she said.

Interest in living arrangement trends has grown between the 1990 and 2000 Census, with a lot of research into multigenerational families, Simmons said.

"We thought it would be interesting to look at that type of living arrangement," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.