It’s not bad or good but it wasn’t uncommon for families to live under one roof. My grandma said the same thing they did when she was growing up.
These fiscal issues interest, and concern, me. I’m not naive enough to believe that without SS, people would save. We see that now. But as SS and Medicare face further pressure, what’s the answer? Dexter’s solution of just letting the government take over everything is not a solution and has its own set of problems. Ezekiel Emmanuel’s idea that after 72 or 75 you should get no healthcare? Tell people that they need to work until 75? Ignoring the issue isn’t a solution, either.
Conservatives sometimes are just as Utopia minded as the left
Back in the day, it was not uncommon for an aging father to turn the reigns over to one of his sons... The son got instant equity, and the return to the father was a stipend in the form of a payment, and likely a room or a floor of the big house where he, and more importantly and long lasting, his wife, would live out their golden years.
Before ordinances removed the capability, 'mother-in-law houses' were very common on any land holding of some size - A converted garage or boathouse... etc. Built in babysitting, built in help with the garden and the dinner table... The imparting of wisdom to the young, and purpose for the old.
One of the best run families that I know of had a big house... When the oldest lad got married, they built a honeymoon hut for them, right on the property... Three sons eventually moved into and out of that little house, and as their families grew, went on to build larger homes elsewhere on the same property. In the end, when the father finally hung up his guns, he and his wife moved into that little home, and his eldest son took over the big house.
It was a wonder to me, and a brilliant model - one communal garden with all the women participating... One communal set of barns and shops where the menfolk plied the family business and worked the livestock... And one common dinner table - All the women preparing together, and all of them sitting around that grand table in the dining room every night.
A very successful family, rich in wealth, materials, and love.
That is the 'utopia' that we have let go by. And it is a cryin shame.