Unearthing the value of intergenerational projects
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I’m setting out to map the economic impact of intergenerational projects of all kinds in this content series. Follow along to see how your housing, care, education and public projects and developments can benefit from catering for people of different ages.
What is intergenerational?
‘Intergenerational’ may be an unfamiliar term (unless you’ve heard it in conjunction with ‘wealth’ or ‘trauma’). If you haven’t come across it before, it describes something which occurs between generations (coming from the Latin words inter which means ‘between’ and generare which means ‘to beget’). It’s an adjective, so a describing word, that can apply to many things – care, housing, education, workplaces, policies and more.
There’s a subtle, yet important difference between ‘intergenerational’ and ‘multigenerational’.
Multigenerational refers to the presence of different generations;
whilst intergenerational refers to the relationship or interaction between generations.
So – a place, like a library, could be multigenerational because it caters to many different generations. But it’s not necessarily intergenerational, because the different generations don’t explicitly interact with each other. Intergenerational (IG) practice, then, refers to projects, places and policies that are purpose-designed with the explicit intention of cultivating relationships between people of different generations.
Photo by Oleg Demakov on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Young or old, we all have unique value to contribute to the collective. Just like trees in a forest share resources and knowledge, we are also stronger and more resilient when interconnected.
Intergenerationality (IG) is not a new idea; it’s just a new term. Our human societies used to be much more IG – and many cultures still are. For many, ‘intergenerational living’ is just living. For example, you may be part of, know, or have heard of, extended families living together with grandparents, parents and children all housed under the one roof.
What makes it different and interesting right now is that we’re experiencing the impacts of widespread generational segregation (and conflict) in much of public and private life. Think about:
- Retirement villages
- The separation of aged care and childcare
- The ‘use by date’ of older people in the workforce
- ‘Boomer’ rhetoric
Whilst real concerns – for safety and peace, health, and security – underlie many of these outcomes, they also create a series of harmful ripple effects like disconnection, ageism, purposelessness, fear and lack of empathy, to name a few.
Now that we are experiencing the negative impacts of generational segregation,
more and more or us are wondering if we didn’t make a wrong turn, somewhere.
Photo by Jakub Zerdzicki via Pexels
Why now?
As the global population ages and we become cripplingly lonely, economic factors are also driving a reintegration between generations. Intergenerational living, for example, is happening more and more in Australia because purchasing a home is much more difficult than it used to be. The rental market is also highly competitive – sometimes prohibitively so. This means that more and more young adults are living at home for longer. At the other end of the spectrum, as our population ages, and the culture of ageing shifts with it, more older people are looking for ways to ‘age in place’. This means that older people may choose to live with family members (or others) in various ways, rather than electing to go into retirement communities.
Across a broad range of applications, IG practice, including housing and care, is being tested and studied for its social and health benefits. Research is demonstrating that it can be an effective, strategic antidote to many issues in the community. It’s still early days, but IG projects and programs are showing they can reduce loneliness and ageism, increase mobility and empathy, and provide greater quality of life, connection and resilience.
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