California trails only Hawaii in its percentage of multigenerational family households, according to AARP statistics. Beyond cultural norms, tough economic conditions often play a part in families' decisions to house or move in with their elders.
At the same time, retirement communities and upscale assisted living centers that once had long waiting lists find themselves slammed with vacancies, says the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry.
The problem? Plummeting home prices have discouraged seniors from cashing out of their existing homes.
Given a choice, most seniors would prefer to continue living independently. But among health issues, economic pressures and diminishing public resources, that's not always possible.
Also last week, Paula Span wrote in the New Old Age blog about formal caregiving contracts, where a family member provides paid caregiving for an elder under a formal contract.
The elderly mother wanted to avoid a nursing home and remain in her house in Kansas City, but she needed hands-on help. The daughter, a nurse at a local hospital, was willing to shoulder responsibility for her mother’s care but couldn’t afford to lose income by substantially scaling back her work schedule.
So elder law attorney Craig Reaves drew up a care contract, specifying that the daughter would help her mother a certain number of hours each week and perform particular duties, for which her mother would pay the same hourly wage her daughter would have earned at the hospital. “The whole family agreed that this was fair,” said Mr. Reaves, immediate past president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
