CBS News poll: Most Americans shared a bedroom growing up

Most Americans had to share a bedroom with a sibling growing up, according to a recent CBS News poll. 

Sixty percent say they shared a bedroom at some point, while 30% always had a bedroom separate from their siblings. Another 9% say they didn’t grow up with a sibling.

The practice of sharing a bedroom with a sibling seems to have been more common in previous generations: older Americans are considerably more likely to have shared a bedroom with a sibling than their younger counterparts. Seventy-two percent of Americans 65 and older shared a bedroom with a sibling growing up, but just half of adults under 35 have had this experience.

This poll was conducted by telephone May 11-16, 2021 among a random sample of 1,008 adults nationwide.  Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by SSRS of Glen Mills, PA.  Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones.

The poll employed a random digit dial methodology. For the landline sample, a respondent was randomly selected from all adults in the household. For the cell sample, interviews were conducted with the person who answered the phone.

 Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish using live interviewers. The data have been weighted to reflect U.S. Census figures on demographic variables. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus 3.6 percentage points. The error for subgroups may be higher and is available by request. The margin of error includes the effects of standard weighting procedures which enlarge sampling error slightly. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.