Intergenerational solidarity and cooperative housing

Cooperative housing: beyond housing

Housing, as a fundamental human need, is not just limited to providing a physical place to live. Instead, it is linked to a variety of social and emotional dimensions, such as a sense of security, the possibility of building relationships, and the fulfillment of both personal and collective needs. Especially nowadays, where loneliness, increased living costs, and limited social services affect quality of life, there is a need for new approaches to the way we live.

In this context, cooperative housing is an alternative form of housing that not only meets housing needs but also promotes cooperation, solidarity, and social cohesion. This model, which we have examined extensively in a previous article, is based on the principle that people can coexist and share not only spaces but also responsibilities, needs, and solutions.

Cooperative housing offers a range of benefits that make it particularly relevant and effective:

• Economy of scale: Sharing resources and responsibilities reduces living costs.
• Social cohesion: Daily interaction with housemates strengthens the sense of belonging and combats loneliness.
• Support for needs: Cooperation helps cover essential needs such as childcare, elder care, home maintenance, and even emotional support.
• Environmental Sustainability: The shared use of resources reduces the ecological footprint.

What is intergenerational solidarity?

Intergenerational solidarity refers to the support and closeness between different generations. This solidarity describes social cohesion and the relationships of mutual dependence and support that develop between parents and children as they grow older and start their own families.

In a workshop we organized at the offices of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, we explored how intergenerational solidarity can enhance the quality of life within cooperative housing initiatives. Through discussions and exchange of experiences, specific practices emerged:

• Childcare by older community members, which reduces stress for young parentς and revitalizes the elderly.
• Skill and knowledge exchange between generations, such as passing down experiences or assisting with daily practical needs.
• Emotional support and a sense of community that promote cohesion and reduce isolation.

The 6 dimensions of intergenerational relations within the family

 

• Structural solidarity: It refers to the opportunity for contact between generations, facilitated by geographical proximity. This can be observed when family members live close to each other or under the same roof.
• Associational Solidarity: It involves the types and patterns of contact and interaction between family members. It is observed through the frequency of contact and shared activities.
• Emotional Solidarity: It focuses on feelings of closeness and mutual affection.
• Consensual Solidarity: It is related to agreement on opinions, values, and beliefs. It is observed through a shared family identity, through the perception of sharing common values and convictions, or            through mutual political and communal commitments.
• Normative Solidarity: It refers to the expectations and sense of obligation associated with an individual's role within the family and compliance with family rules and values.
• Functional Solidarity: It refers to mutual assistance between generations, both financial and practical (e.g., cooking, household chores, grocery shopping, accompanying people to medical appointments) or emotional (e.g., active listening, expressing empathy, showing appreciation).

“Chosen family”

Intergenerational solidarity is not limited to the family but extends to any community – what many people describe as a “chosen family”, which is a form of social bond created between individuals not based on biological kinship, but mainly through the choices and relationships that develop. In this sense, people form bonds of love, support, and care based on mutual understanding, trust, and shared experience, rather than common ancestry.

Chosen family is often found in LGBTQI+ communities, where people create close relationships with individuals who support and understand them, especially if their biological families do not accept their sexual identity. At the same time, this concept also applies to anyone who chooses to form strong bonds with people who are not blood relatives or spouses, but whom they consider family due to emotional and psychological closeness.

Chosen family can include friends, partners, mentors, or even colleagues, i.e. individuals who provide mutual support, care, and stability. This form of family can offer the same sense of security, love, and identity as traditional families, with the added specificity that these bonds result from a conscious choice rather than a predetermined circumstance.

This network of relationships can lead to the creation of new traditions and rituals that reflect the shared values and identity of the new family, as well as the empowerment and autonomy of its members.

In summary, “chosen family” represents the idea that family is not only a matter of biological connection but can also be the result of people's conscious efforts to find and create supportive and deep relationships with people they truly consider important in their lives.

Here, it is important to underline that as societies age, questions related to intergenerational solidarity become increasingly important.

Support and integration of vulnerable groups

Expanding on our thinking, we can ask further questions to enrich the discussion. For instance, does intergenerational solidarity involve behaviors and policies aimed at supporting and integrating vulnerable groups?

Let us try to put ourselves in the shoes of others: What expectations would an elderly refugee have from a co-housing initiative? Could a single mother without support from her family find the “grandparents” for her children in the initiative and receive the support she did not get from her family? Would a person with mental health issues feel safe, hoping that instead of unknown neighbors, the cohabitants in the initiative could offer support, if only through their understanding? What could such an initiative offer to a teenager, who may be exposed to risks such as a propensity for crime in their immediate environment? How would an unemployed person be practically supported, who in a typical housing scheme would also face the fear of homelessness? How would the community of the initiative handle a case of domestic violence? Could a young LGBTQI+ person find in the older members of the initiative the family they were rejected by, and additionally experience acceptance for who they are?

Positive outcomes from intergenerational cooperation

As highlighted in a previous article, cooperative housing initiatives have a long history in Northern Europe. With their members aging, intergenerational solidarity has become a crucial topic of discussion, not only within various social and political movements but also among citizens in the broader community and neighborhood.

As community members grow older and reach or surpass retirement age, their needs become more differentiated: on the one hand, they have more free time; on the other hand, health issues or caregiving responsibilities (e.g., for parents, children, or grandchildren) may limit their ability to engage socially or meet personal needs, such as shopping, accessing services, or visiting doctors. Younger residents, for their part, spend much of their time meeting their likelihood needs and possibly caring for children and/or parents, leaving them with very little free time for rest and recreation.

These generations, therefore, through a structured process of dialogue, can come closer, understand each other’s unique needs, and attempt to mutually support those needs.

In similar projects abroad, I was lucky to observe practical applications of intergenerational solidarity: the care of children by older members of the community often replaces to some extent the absence of their grandparents, who either live far away or are no longer alive, besides being refreshing for the older members of the community. Beyond a caregiver role, however, to the next age group of adolescents and young adults, older community members offered their experiences and stories through their life journey, providing a link to the past.

Many times, depending on specific needs, the care of children was combined or exchanged with the offering of cooked food, or the parent might reciprocate to the elderly caregiver through assistance with shopping, accompanying them to doctors and services, or even home repairs. This continuous coexistence and interaction of multiple generations of residents in shared spaces, along with common activities, strengthened the bonds of the community, solidarity, and the sense of belonging. And, of course, the fulfillment of needs through the community ultimately led to a reduction in the cost of living, as tasks that would otherwise be paid for, were covered for free through the allocation of community resources”.

Northern Europe, Greece, Thessaloniki

The difference in the level of welfare state provisions between Northern Europe and Greece explains the different approaches to the issue of intergenerational solidarity. In Northern Europe, the welfare state continues to play an important role, providing care and support services to citizens. As a result, the discussion mainly focuses on improving socialization and addressing loneliness, especially for older individuals.

On the contrary, in Greece, where the welfare state has withdrawn from many of its obligations, intergenerational solidarity emerges as a solution to fill significant gaps. Citizens are often required to cover the care and support needs of their relatives – whether they are elderly, working people, parents, unemployed individuals, or other vulnerable people. Thus, the discussion on intergenerational solidarity in Greece focuses more on practical solutions to address these deficiencies, while issues of socialization and loneliness take a back seat.

For the past two years, I have had the opportunity to be involved with a co-housing group where the axis of intergenerational solidarity plays a crucial role. The initial idea was solidarity among older individuals, but over time, it organically evolved into the concept of solidarity between generations. Through discussions on issues related to quality of life and survival such as the rising cost of living, loneliness, and the lack of free time, we have been led to increasingly meaningful communication and the search for collective answers. Intergenerational solidarity has managed to enrich this debate, opening new pathways in our thinking.