The number of multigenerational homes in America has grown exponentially over the last 50 years. Pew Research found almost a fifth of the total U.S. population is in multigenerational households.

Now, new research from Lending Tree shows that a majority of young adults that moved back home during the pandemic are still there.

But the pandemic isn’t the only, or even the biggest, driver for multigenerational living.

Holly Michaels and her husband welcomed home an adult son a few years ago just before the pandemic.

“It was supposed to be temporary, but housing in Livingston County is extremely expensive and so, it was taking a while. Then, COVID happened” said Michaels.

A year before their son moved in, the Michaels had moved in with their aging father-in-law to help care for him. Their father had more space and it allowed the family to take care of him without driving back and forth.

Advocates for multigenerational living say while the pandemic did bring about more decisions to move mom or dad in, research from Pew suggests there are stronger driving causes for adults in the same family to live together. Financial reasons topped the list. After that, the top reasons are more personal.

Families reported it was an arrangement they just always had. Other reasons for living with family members included caregiving, a relationship change, companionship and child care.

“For children and young people, they get to know their grandparents or their older aunt or older relative. They get to hear about the family history. For older adults, it helps them in terms of a sense of purpose, sharing, passing on those stories,” said Donna Butts, the executive director of Generations United.

The organization has long advocated for a more caring society. Butts says more families are moving in together to leave less of an environmental impact as well. To have a successful merge, Butts and other wealth and aging experts believe it’s important for everyone to have their own space.

Communication, having a plan around household expectations, and financial contributions are also important. Multigenerational living experts also suggest having a plan and revisiting it every few months.

Diversity across the U.S. continues to grow, and the growth of Asian Americans may be one of the starkest examples of that.

“Asian Americans are projected to become the largest group in the U.S. by 2065,” said Neil Ruiz, Associate Director of Race and Ethnicity Research with Pew Research.

Pew analyzed data from the American Community Survey from the census.

“Since 2009, there are more immigrant arrivals coming from Asia than Latin America, which is really contributing to this Asian American population growth,” said Ruiz.

The population of Asians in the U.S. has nearly doubled since 2000, making them the fastest growing community of color in the country.

Alyssa Nilemo loves seeing her community blossom.

“I’m grateful for my community and how it’s supported me,” she said.

Nilemo is a member of the Colorado Asian Chamber of Commerce. She sees the growth of the community.

“We see places like, here, where we have small business owners, restaurants, sort of our cultural hub as it were,” said Nilemo.

But being a growing sector of society comes with growing pains. Hate crimes targeting Asians rose by 164% over last year.

“We are seeing a rise in violent crimes against Asians, but I don’t want to give the false impression that racism and that outburst towards Asians is something new,” said Nilemo.

But the rate of Asian American growth is new. Both Ruiz and Nilemo trace this growth back more than 50 years.

“This wave of Asian immigration is an outcome of the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act passage,” said Ruiz.

“Ever since the 1960s, when we saw a lift on those immigration bans start, this has been a steady increase,” said Nilemo.

“Before 1965, Asians and Latin Americans were banned from coming into the United States,” said Ruiz.

That law, the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act, allowed Asians to freely immigrate to the U.S. In 1960, there were less than 1 million Asians in the country. Today, there are almost 24 million.

As the population numbers grow, people like Nilemo are encouraging others to seek out and learn more about Asian culture.

“Come engage in community centers like this. Try the food, look up some resources, like the Asian Chamber that can connect you with Asian owned businesses,” said Nilemo.