If you live in a multi-generational household in New Jersey, you should know that NJ GOP candidates for governor Jack Ciattarelli and Phil Rizzo think you’re a complete and total loser.
One of the rising trends in New Jersey according to the 2010 and 2020 U.S. Census is the concept of multigenerational families living under one roof. More New Jerseyans are opting to live in close quarters with their elder family members.
After the COVID-19 pandemic where families were separated from each other for as much as one year, experts predict that number to grow exponentially as families remove their elders from managed care facilities in exchange for in-home care in their own homes.
If you’re one of those people who choose to keep your family unit together, you’re a loser. That’s the stance of New Jersey GOP candidate Jack Ciattarelli who consistently bashes his opponent Hirsh Singh, an engineer of Indian-American dissent for staying home to care for his parents. Singh who is single, say in Indian culture it is normal for unmarried children to remain close to their parents.
Related: Ciattarelli slams Rizzo over $1.6 million tax-free mansion
Dipti Vaid Dedhia, a writer for the Huffington explained why in detail.
“After graduating college, each of us moved back home to live with our parents — a decision we thought was totally normal given that we had seen our cousins and Indian friends do the same,” Dedhia said. “It was only after fielding countless questions from our non-Indian friends that we realized that in the U.S. it’s far from the norm.”
Questions from aging white baby boomers like Jack Ciattarelli who are out of touch with cultures besides their own?
Dedhia explains, “Typically, in the Indian culture, returning home after high school or college is not only encouraged, but expected. Most children will stay with their parents up until marriage and some even after marriage and the Indian “society” accepts this as the norm. There is no taboo, there is no judgment, and there is no shame – from the male or female perspective. Children are meant to stay with their parents to be taken care of, and as the parents grow older, the children are expected to take care of their parents in their home.”
Repeatedly both Jack Ciattarelli and Phil Rizzo have assaulted Singh’s Indian culture and values by calling him a ‘loser’ for not ditching mom and dad. Not only are both candidates calling Singh a loser, but they are also calling the nearly 200,000 multigenerational households in New Jersey losers.
Related: Melinda Ciattarelli goes Jersey Shore on Singh campaign manager
“He lives in his mom’s basement,” Ciattarelli said on Facebook while mocking Singh with Rizzo.
“Maybe his mom will let him come out and debate,” Rizzo fired back.
According to NJ.Com, multi-generational households are in the increase in New Jersey.
The paper reported data from the 2010 Census shows there were 159,323 multigenerational households, in which three or more generations of a family share a home. That number, which accounts for 5 percent of all households in New Jersey, rose about 10.5 percent from the 2000 Census. In the 2020 census, that number could reach almost 10% of the total households in New Jersey.
So perhaps Singh stays at home to care for his parents in accordance with his family’s culture and values. Or, maybe it’s that Singh doesn’t hasn’t been receiving 33 years of fully paid public benefits and salary like Ciattarelli or wasn’t crafty enough to have his small church buy him a $1.7 million estate to live in tax-free. Everyone’s situation is unique.