Young Couples -- living solo or with family?

[toomanycurls]

I'm writing a fic for the musical challenge. It's about early fatherhood with a focus on Frank Longbottom and James Potter (set to Dear Theodosia from Hamilton). I'm trying to decide if Lily/James or Frank/Alice would live with their parents or on their own. It's not a huge influence on the plot, just how I describe their settings. 

I suppose Frank and Alice would be more likely to live on their own -- especially if you think of them as likely being 3-5 years older than James/Lily. While their age makes me think James and Lily might live with the Potters, James also has money so he could afford a place even if his career is just starting. 

What I need help with is understanding the norms for cross-generational cohabitation in the UK in the 80s. My background sees living as isolated family units as the norm but that's a painfully American perspective. How does that work in other countries? 

edit: I'm going to assume that they are not in hiding at the point I'm writing this fic. 

[Jo Raskoph]

I don't know much about the UK, but the way it would have been done in the 80s here (in Central Europe) I imagine it would be just as likely that they lived together with their parents as it would be to live appart. In my imagination it would all depend on what their circumstances were at that time. For example, if they were building their own home (the Cottage in Godric's Hollow?) and it took some time to finish, I can well imagine them living with their parents during that time. (Assuming buliding houses takes time even with wizardry.) At the same time, I can imagine that they would like to live on their own, or not, depending on the character of baby Harry and their job environment. If Harry was a cry baby and needed loads of time to take care of, maybe they moved back in with their parents so someone would be around when James/Lily was working, or working for the order? They were young, so I can imagine their parents might have offered for them to move back once they were told about the pregnancy?
From my experience families in small towns are more likely to live together longer than families in cities, because they have houses more often, and there's some space for the young couple to live in.

I'm sorry so many words just to say that I can't really answer your question…

[beyond the rain]

In the 80s cross generation living was still very much a thing. I'm not sure if it's specific to a particular a social class though. I come from a working class background and in the 80s and 90s my nan lived with her mum, my dad used to live with his gran, aunties would live in the house for months at a time and so would cousins etc. 

 

A lot of them lived on the same estate/street as well. My nan lived in her house further along the hill and her mum lived in a bungalow at the bottom, my nans brothers lived on the top of the hill. 

 

I hope this has been useful

 

[VaguelyCreativeName]

I can only echo what has been said, obviously a lot would depend on your economic status, and generally speaking, it's more common for several generations to live under the same roof in rural areas. My grandparents were farmers (although not in the UK), so my mother - and countless generations before her - grew up with her grandparents living in the same house, and the same applies even today to a lot of her friends with their children.

What you should also consider in the case of James and Lily is that all four of Harry's grandparents had passed away by the time he was a year old, so it's likely that they would have needed some assistance when James and Lily started living together. Especially since James is an only child, and his parents were older when they had him, he would need to provide care for them in their old age. So depending on how sick/elderly you portray the Potters, having to take care of both an infant and an ailing parent might facilitate living in the same house, or even leave it as the only option.

[sibilant]

Popping in to mention that you should also consider the cultural context of your characters! In India it is very common and tbh expected for young married couples to live with the husband’s family. I think that’s changing slowly now but the traditional families definitely follow that paradigm  I’d have to research other cultures, but my best guess (and please take this with a grain of salt) is that any culture where the family is the central unit of society would encourage the married youth to live with the family until they have a child (or possibly multiple children). 

 

Don’t know how applicable this is to your specific case but to others who might have this same question/a similar one later, something to consider