Living At Home: More Adult Children Than Ever Staying With Parents In The U.S.


More American adult children are living at home than ever before, for a multitude of reasons, mostly financial.

Whether it’s debt, related to higher education, the lack of a job, or not having a place to live, adult kids or millennials, are living with their parents in larger numbers than at other times. It is not hard to understand why the trend is ticking upwards for this generation, after all the economy is not as strong as it used to be and jobs are scarce.

In the U.S., most kids start thinking of leaving the nest as they end high school and head off to college to pursue a career. Due to America’s large size and the multitude of colleges, universities, and other higher education establishments, the possibilities are endless.

Many kids choose to stay close to home, but not too close. Children on the verge of adulthood want their independence and living at home is not usually desired, which is not the case in other countries.

Kids abroad are not expected to leave their home when they go to college and many remain, as it only makes sense to stay, if the school of choice is usually in the same city where they already live in. Europe and South America are very different from the U.S. in that the choices for higher education are not as varied.

Despite the stigma associated with adult children living at home in the U.S., not the same can be said for other places. People don’t think twice when an adult child says that they live with mom and dad abroad and many stay until they get married.

Children living at home in the U.S. have a bad rap and most think of a lazy millennial without a job when the topic arises. However, such is not always the case and many kids who ask for a place to “crash” to mom and dad, do for convenience reasons.

The arrangements depend on how willing parents are, to allow their adult kids to come back home after they have moved away for college. There can be tension, but as long as the rules are followed by both parties, things seem to work out and it can be very helpful for kids to save in rent or mortgage, when they have debt.

“There is a support that comes with living with your parents,” Eric Maitland, a 27-year-old chef instructor says. “I know my town, and I know my area.”

A Pew research study released in 2013 concluded that 36 percent (or 21.6 million) of the total U.S. population between the ages of 18 and 30 were still living at home by the end of 2012. In 1968, it was 32 percent, not much difference, but that number remained unmoved for the next several decades.

Do you have adult kids living at home or do you live with your parents after graduating from college? Leave us a comment below.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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