Young African American Multigenerational Families in Poverty

Young, African American multigenerational families are composed of young mothers, grandmothers, and children. These multigenerational families exist both within and outside of shared living arrangements. Grandmothers, or grandmother figures, living in close proximity to young mothers can provide advice, emotional support, and practical assistance, as can grandmothers who share homes with young mothers and children. Indeed, some grandmothers and young mothers live in quite immediate residences—on different floors of the same apartment building or at different addresses on the same block—providing privacy from but still ready access to each other.