“They’re the reason I get up. They’re the reason why I push through everything that I push through. They are my inner strength, my outer strength”, says Jean Givner, 54, a mother and grandmother, who is the oldest of three generations of the Givner family living under the same roof in Wilkins Township.
Jean is the matriarch of the home and works two full-time jobs, as a certified nursing assistant and a direct support professional, to afford the rising cost of living for her family. She bought her house during the COVID pandemic, when housing costs weren’t as high as they are now.
When inflation began to rise, her daughter Layla, 30, Layla’s fiancé, 36, and Layla’s daughter, 11, moved in with Jean.
“The point of us all being together and working together is to be able to lighten the load, but it seems like every time we think we’re going to catch a breathing room, you know, we get hit with, oh well, inflation’s going to happen more, and you know, then we’re getting hit with these higher utility bills, which is ridiculous,” Jean said.
Now two of Jean’s adult children live in the home with her, along with five of her grandchildren, ages 5 to 15. With nine people and three dogs under one roof, Jean said she works a second full-time job to afford groceries, which usually cost the family around $450 a week.
Jean did the math for a month, and figured out that she works an average of 14 hours a day and sleeps five, leaving her with around 5 for everything else.
“It can get a little hectic with my three siblings, but we make it work and try to do our best.”
Anajha, the oldest grandchild.
In the United States, around one-third of adults under 35 are living with their parents, which is higher than it has ever been.
While people used to buy homes in their late 20s, now the median age for first-time homebuying is 38. Inflation has pushed rents higher while income has not kept up. As a result, the purchase of multigenerational homes hit an all-time high, rising nationally from 11% in 2021 to 17% in 2024.
While the trend is driven by cost, living multigenerationally can also strengthen community and fight the isolation and loneliness people often experience as they age. “A multi-generational family offers natural social interaction and community, and it also expands the older adults’ network,” said Pamela Toto, director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Healthy Home Laboratory, which promotes aging in place.
Toto said one downside is that some things that are put in place for one generation may negatively impact another generation in the home. “If we’re putting modifications into someone’s home that meets the needs for an older adult, it might actually hinder the needs for a younger person.”
For instance, an Amazon Alexa can be a really beneficial tool for older people, but if it is programmed to turn off the lights in the home at a certain time, that might hinder a younger night owl, Toto noted.
Jean’s only daughter, Leila, lives in the basement of the home with her fiancé and daughter. They have their own kitchen and bathroom, but the bathroom is currently broken. Leila is pregnant, and soon there will be another grandchild in the home.
“The struggle is not really having enough room for everyone.”
jean Givner
Jean shares her bedroom with the two youngest grandchildren a lot of the time, which she says she doesn’t mind.
“You gotta learn to love them, you gotta learn to cooperate with one of eachother and just help out honestly, even if it’s something small, it’s still help, helping never bothered me,” said Anajha
Claira Tokarz is a photojournalism intern at Pittsburgh’s Public Source. She can be reached at claira@publicsource.org.
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