Experiences of parents in contemporary communal households

Abstract

There has been little large-scale systematic research on contemporary communal life, especially comparative research on the experience of families in communal households. The lack of research-based knowledge makes it difficult to advise, predict, or plan for future communally living families. Using data from a three-wave national sample of 60 representative urban communes located in six major cities in the United States, communes containing nuclear families in them were categorized according to “familism context.” Measuring satisfaction with the communal environment using behavioral, attitudinal, and ethnographic data, differences were found between families in different familism contexts. Families living in communes where they maintained centrality and control, governing the rhythms and focus of the household, were more satisfied with their communal living situations than were families whose daily family life was only incidental to the communal purpose.