You would think young adults stuck living at home with their parents would be sending texts of despair to friends about their lot in life.
Think again. Most Gen Yers think it's gr8.
Three out of ten adults, ages 25 to 34, are living with their folks and of those 78 percent said they’re happy with it, according to a Pew Research survey released Thursday and titled “The Boomerang Generation: Feeling OK about Living with Mom and Dad.”
Even more surprising is that 77 percent of those still under their parent’s roof have high hopes for their economic futures.
The Pew survey is based on telephone interviews with about 2,000 young adults around the country in December.
It’s becoming like an episode of “All in the Family” out there.
“The share of Americans living in multi-generational family households is the highest it has been since the 1950s, having increased significantly in the past five years,” according to additional Pew research that looked at U.S. Census data, and the 24 to 35 crowd are among the most likely to be living in such arrangements.
One reason Gen Yers might be happy with the new family order is because so many of them are doing it, the researchers surmised.
- Among young adults, 61 percent said they have friends or family members who have moved back in with their parents over the past few years because of economic conditions.
- And 29 percent of parents of adult children report that a child of theirs has moved back in with them in the past few years because of the economy.
Indeed, the unemployment rate for this group, which on the decline, is still 8.7 percent, above the national average in February of 8.3 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Adults in their late 20s and early 30s have fared somewhat better in the labor market, but they have felt the sting of tough economic times in other areas of their lives,” the report stated. “Many have had to settle for jobs they didn’t really want just to make ends meet. Fully a third have gone back to school, and an equal share (34 percent) have postponed either marriage, parenthood or both.”
The economic turbulence, Pew reported, “appears to be giving rise to a protracted set of economic ties between parents and their adult children.”
Having the kids return home isn’t all bad for the parents either, especially when it comes to finances.
- 48 percent of young adults report that they have paid rent to their parents.
- And 89 percent said they helped with household expenses.
This might be why many young adults reported not feeling footloose and fancy free, even though they’re not burdened by paying their own way. “Nearly eight-in-ten of these 25- to 34-year-olds say they don’t currently have enough money to lead the kind of life they want,” Pew results found, “compared with 55 percent of their same-aged peers who aren’t living with their parents.”
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