It feels pathetic to admit this, but I'm still a bit unmoored by my sons leaving after Christmas. There's a readjustment required every time back to tidy silence, to my studiedly casual WhatsApps going unread, to imagining their days by checking their weather. With my caretaking impulses thwarted, I'm anxious and unsettled, forever offering unwanted care parcels and unsolicited advice. Let them live their lives, I bleat to myself, while doing everything but.
In recent decades, the markers of adulthood have shifted for young American men: they are almost twice as likely to be single, less likely to go to college and more likely to be unemployed. Most significantly for their parents, they are also less likely to have fled the nest, with the term trad son springing into social media lexicon in recent months.
Intergenerational living presents a scalable and emotionally sustainable alternative. This model represents a necessary evolution in housing: one that is inclusive, emotionally aware, and economically sound.