Reclaiming Collective Strength: The Untapped Power of Multigenerational Living in Black American Families
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Over the past several decades, multigenerational living among Black American families has seen a noticeable decline, a trend that contrasts sharply with the continued prevalence of multigenerational households in Asian, Latinx, South Asian, and African immigrant communities in the United States (Cohn et al., 2022; Pew Research Center, 2010). Historically, Black families have relied on extended kin networks to navigate resilience strategies in response to structural economic and social injustices. However, socio-political factors such as redlining, housing discrimination, and the exclusion of Black families from wealth-building opportunities, including the GI Bill and Federal Home Administration loans, disrupted these communal frameworks (Hanks et al., 2018; Rothstein, 2017). Consequently, many Black families shifted toward nuclear family structures, often out of necessity rather than preference (Darity & Hamilton, 2012). This paper re-examines the cultural history, mental health benefits, and socio-economic advantages of multigenerational living within Black American communities. Drawing on interdisciplinary sources from psychology, sociology, economics, and public health, it explores how multigenerational cohabitation facilitates mental health support, economic resilience, caregiving logistics, and cultural preservation (Bryant et al., 2024; Generations United, 2021; Afro-American Newspapers, 2025). The analysis also addresses factors that hinder the broader adoption of this model, including stigmatization, housing policy constraints, and internalized respectability politics. Through historical analysis and recent research, this paper argues that multigenerational living is not an outdated form of poverty or maladaptation, but a vital tool for intergenerational healing, resource optimization, and cultural preservation. While it may not be the sole path to familial well-being, it serves as both a cultural resistance to white patriarchal structures and an anchor for the future of Black communities, fostering mutual care and collective responsibility.
Source: Journal of Forensic Social Work
Author: Dionne Mahaffey
Institution: California Southern University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4416735563