The perfect storm has created a trend that some people would call a nightmare - two or more generations of adults living under the same roof.

suburban NJ home
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Census data showed that more than 22 percent of New Jersey homes were considered "shared households" in 2011.

Dr. Richard Perniciaro, Director of the Center for Regional and Business Research at Atlantic Cape Community College, said the number of shared households is particularly strong in the Garden State due to high housing and rent costs.

"Rents are now higher than you'd pay for mortgage and property taxes in a lot of parts of New Jersey," explained Perniciaro.

That's one reason college graduates have been forced to live at home with Mom and Dad. A weak job market and mounting debt meant owning a home wasn't possible, and since the recession triggered a lack of homebuilding, rents spiked to an extraordinarily high level.

By moving back home, some of those college graduates ended up living with their parents and grandparents. The weak economy has also been too much to handle for the elderly, who were forced to shack up with their children in order to lessen their daily financial burden.

Nationwide, there were 22 million shared households in 2011, down slightly from the year prior.

Perniciaro said this trend is part of the ever-moving economic cycle, and it will work itself out as the job and housing markets continue to improve.

"You're starting to see loans that are easier to get than they were a couple years ago," he said.

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