Innovation: Multi-generational houses

Germany

AAI Domain: Independent, healthy and secure living (educational attainment, care for older adults, care for children)

An ageing population provides new opportunities for forms of social provision to develop that enhance inter-generational relationships, health and well-being. In Germany there have been social changes that have resulted in fewer traditional households consisting of three generations of a family living together. One of the positive features of this form of household was the strong relationships between grandparents and grandchildren. With an ageing society, the Federal Government’s Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth has initiated a large scale programme of multi-generational houses to provide a hub in the community for all generations.

The concept of the multi-generational house was pioneered in the mid-2000s by the Salzgitter Mothers’ Centre in order to provide a place where all generations could meet and interact in an informal yet professionally informed fashion. The multi-generational house provides a meeting place for parents with young children, young people, adults (defined as being under the age of 50), older adults (aged 51 to 64) and senior citizens (over the age of 65). They consist of a ‘public living room’ which is a large space for people to meet, engage in a variety of activities and they are nearly always connected to a café or restaurant that provides food and drink.

The multi-generational house often contains a creche for infant, a range of play and learning activities for young children and older people to engage in either separately or together. They are characterised as a mixture of care, informal education and learning with animation – joining together for mutual benefit – that supports the development of social capital and networks of support.

There are now more than 450 multi-generational houses across Germany working with more than 33,000 partners including municipalities, companies, schools and civil society organisations and are used by around 50,000 people of all generations every day. They are facilitated by at least one professional supplemented by volunteers and provide a range of activities that appeal to people of all ages. A survey in 2013 found that the largest group of service users were adults under the age of 50 (29%), followed by children and young people (28%), senior citizens (24%) and older adults aged 51 to 64 (19%).

The Action Plan for Multi-Generational Houses II was launched in 2012 and provided €40,000 subsidy for each organisation, 75% from the Federal Ministry and 25% from the European Social Fund, to contribute to activities, some free and others financed by fees. The multi-generational house concepts fits well with traditional German culture and the subsidiarity principle of actions being taken at the lowest level possible and the highest level necessary. They form a key element of the German government’s response to an ageing population and provide a place for older people who are able to make a social contribution to do so while also providing a form of complementary care for older people in need.

The Action Plan in 2012 had four main areas of focus: age and care, integration and education, offering and arranging household services and the promotion of volunteering. This encompassed a wide range of activities based on inter-generational activity and exchange that encouraged mutual aid and support. While critics contend that they are a fig leaf to cover the state’s retreat from the provision of social care services, the Federal Government maintains that they are an attempt to recreate social networks that have withered and are a complement, not an alternative, to state-funded social care arrangements.

In relation to active ageing, multi-generational houses provide an innovative form of community centre that aims to meet the needs of people of all ages in a variety of ways. The provision of social pedagogy for children and young people is likely to improve educational attainment, they are a community hub for voluntary activities and a centre for care provision to both children and older adults. There is also scope for benefits in relation to lifelong learning and most importantly there is enhanced social connectedness through inter-generational support.

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