According to LinkedIn research, one in five Gen Z employees hasn’t spoken directly with someone over 50 at work in the previous year, and around 40% of those over 55 said the same about their younger colleagues. We have so much to learn from each other, but we’re not even talking even though three-quarters of everyone surveyed believe they can learn from other age groups. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that building multigenerational workforces and giving older employees greater opportunities could raise gross domestic product per capita by 19% by 2050. 

One place we are seeing more intergen collaboration is in housing, often out of necessity. Older people have space and could use some extra money, while younger folks can’t afford their own apartments. Today, nearly half of Americans aged 18-30 will live with their parents or other older folks during this entry into adulthood which is substantially more than it was 20 years ago (here’s a Vox article on the topic). Homes with at least two generations of adults over 24 or grandparents with younger grandchildren quadrupled between 1971 to 2021 to nearly 60 million homes, according to Pew Research.

I’ll never forget living with the 75-year-old widow Jane during my second year of business school. We had so much fun dancing and drinking and talking about her sex life before she got married. I had just come out of the closet at age 22 and Jane learned about my new lifestyle before my parents did. And, then, there was Salliji, my octogenarian meditation teacher (who I wrote about in this blog post) who loved me like her son. I camped out over at her apartment a few times and we had the occasional slumber party at my place.

I’m helping my friend and MEA alum Julie Lythcott-Haims (author of How to Raise an Adult) with her next book by sharing her survey on multigenerational living. If you’re a parent/grandparent living with an adult child/adult grandchild, and need help and/or have advice to give, I encourage you to take this survey! The survey deadline is Sunday March 2. You can direct any questions to Julie at [email protected] and check out her short video message to MEA alums. 

-Chip