WASHINGTON - Children in houses wherein three generations of a family live together are likely to be economically more sound than those who live in a two-generation household, according to a study.

Researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of Massachusetts, Boston, have found that children living in single-mother families that also include a grandparent are substantially less likely to be living below or near the poverty line compared to children living in mother-only homes.

“The implications of this research are particularly salient as we are facing an unprecedented economic crisis in the United States. Multigenerational co-residence will likely be a strategy used by many to deal with financial hardship caused by the loss of a job, house or retirement savings,” said Lindsey A. Baker of the USC Davis School of Gerontology, co-author of the study.

In their study report, the researchers write that more than six million American children, under the age of 18, live with at least one grandparent.

The report further points out that of these children, 2.5 million are part of a single-mother family that includes the child’s mother as well as one or more grandparents.

The researchers used data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation from 2001, and found that the presence of just one grandparent makes the odds of living below the poverty line 80 per cent lower than for children living without a grandparent, and children living with two grandparents are at an even greater advantage.

They also found that the the average income of a U.S. family with two grandparents is more than double the income of a single-mother household with no grandparents.

Tehir findings also suggest that the largest single source of income in single-mother, three-generation homes is the contributions of grandparents, including cash transfers and Social Security income, Baker said.

“The pooling of resources has long been identified as a benefit of household extension. The easing of financial difficulties has been highlighted as an important goal motivating the formation of multigenerational households. Grandparents are often the first families members called upon when families are troubled or in need,” said lead author Jan E. Mutchler of the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

A research article describing the study, to be published in the Journal of Family Issues in November, is presently available online. (ANI)