More Miamians are living together — but not just with their families
Parents are finally getting relief from their boomerang kids. According to a new report based on Census data, Miamians increasingly are leaving home and sharing their households with anyone but family.
A study on changes in household compositions from 2007 to 2018 found that in the Miami area, unrelated households — generally roommates and unmarried partners — grew by 46%. By comparison, such living arrangements dropped by 17% in Tampa over the same period, and grew by 156% in Orlando. In New York, unrelated households grew by 19% over the same period.
Experts credit the change largely to the high cost of housing.
“As you see rising housing costs, it is encouraging creativity with housing,” said Mike Pappas, president and CEO of the Keyes Company.
Authors of the study published by Apartment List Rentonomics agreed, writing, “as rents continue to go up, roommates and co-living arrangements become even more appealing and we expect to see households grow or merge to afford available housing.“
Millennials and the elderly are most likely to live with others, said Pappas: “Elderly people that have lost a spouse may rent out a room to help with housing costs.”
Philip N. Cohen, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland, agreed. Whether it’s a millennial or elderly person, “If they are bundling up together, it’s usually out of necessity,” he said.
But that doesn’t mean Miami-area residents are abandoning traditional arrangements. While the number of people living with their nuclear families has dropped nationwide by 4.3%, in the Miami metro, living with family grew by 15.5%. Living at home and with extended family remains common in Hispanic and Caribbean households.
Other findings: More young people nationwide are living with partners without being married. And those with lower incomes are more likely to live with roommates
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Rising housing costs may also be driving another trend recently reported by the Pew Research Center. For the first time in 160 years, the number of people in the average U.S. household is increasing.
For the construction and development industries, that could be bad news. Writes Pew: “Rising household size reduces the demand for housing, resulting in less residential construction and less demand for home appliances and furniture. In general, it leads to a less vigorous housing sector — fewer apartment leases and home purchases, as well as less spending related to housing, such as cable company subscriptions and home accessories supplier.”
This story was originally published October 3, 2019 at 4:30 AM.
