Many Parents Unhappy with Growing Trend of Young Adults Living at Home

By Melissa Whitmore 

JRN100 News Staff Writer

A growing number of young adults are moving back home, and many parents are not happy about this change. 

As more young adults find themselves moving back into the family home for financial, mental health, and other reasons, American parents are mixed about the trend, a recent survey found.

While nearly half of those surveyed said they don’t see the shift negatively or positively, more than a third said they are unhappy about the increasing likelihood that their offspring will be coming back to their childhood bedrooms according to Pew Research.

A study titled “Americans more likely to say it’s a bad thing than a good thing that more young adults live with their parents,” was published by Dipo Fadeyi and Juliana Menasce Horowitz in August of 2022. This study surveyed 9,942 Americans about their perceptions the increase of young adults living with their parents. 

According to another study titled “Young adults in U.S. are much more likely than 50 years ago to be living in a multigenerational household” by Pew Research, 25% of adults in the U.S. from ages 25 to 34 lived in a multigenerational household in 2021. Compared to nine percent 50 years prior in 1971. 

In the first survey, 36% of all adults think young adults living with their parents is bad for society. Compared with 16% of all adults saying it’s a good thing, and 47%, think that this trend doesn’t make a difference. 

According to Carol Sigelman, a Professor of Applied Social Psychology at George Washington University, there are many reasons adults think it is a bad thing.

Sigelman said that American ideas about “age norms” contribute to much of the negative perception. Culturally American norms are shaped by the idea that children should be moving out of the family home as young adults to become independent. 

The normal trend for children as they mature into adulthoo
d, according to Sigelman, is that they are supposed to finish high school, go to college, and prepare for their working lives. The next stage is that young adults are supposed to work for a while before settling down, getting married and having children of their own.

When young adults move back in with their parents, it could be for a myriad of reasons. Some reasons can include negative developments in their lives such as “developing mental health problems or drug problems,” said Sigelman.

In some cases, everyone involved, the parents and child, are seen as failures because they could not make the norm work.

The norm that children are supposed to leave their homes and become independent is often seen as a positive achievement. Becoming “empty nesters” is generally a good thing for parents, said Sigelman. 

Additionally, according to Sigelman, while there are stages of development for kids as they grow up, adults are still developing in their lives too. Older parents are planning for their own lives and are unable to support their children as much.

The financial burden that young adults impose on their families can be a lot to handle if they move back in. Many young adults have gone through college which their parents helped them pay for, and their parents don’t intend to provide lasting support. 

“It can become a drain if the parents have to financially support children for too long,” said Sigelman. 

This study found that 41% of white adults think young adults living with their parents is a bad thing compared to 26% of Black adults, 28% of Hispanic adults, and just 23% of Asian adults.

These statistics can be explained by different family values in different communities, according to Sigelman. 

She said that Black and Hispanic individuals often think about their families through familism, the concept that individuals in the family put the whole above themselves. The family values of white Americans can be explained through a more individualistic lens. White families tend to have less of a collective familial point of view. 

For minority families it is “automatic that the parents would accept the child coming back home,” said Sigelman. 

Another difference in attitude shows up in gender groups, the study found. More men than women said they think negatively about the trend of more young adults living with their parents with 42% of men and 31% of women describing this shift as undesirable.

This difference can be chalked up to historical gender roles and social norms, said Sigelman. Women have traditionally been the primary caregivers within the family and therefore are less likely to see this shift as a bad thing. 

While some feel strongly about this living arrangement, the survey found that most people are not concerned with more people saying it doesn’t make a difference than the combined number of people who see it negatively or positively.

Some people said they are happy that their children are moving back in with them. Overall, 16% of people surveyed think having young adults move in with their families is a good thing. 

Despite the survey finding that 36% of people don’t like the fact that more young adults are moving in with their parents, Katie Davis of South Hadley, Massachusetts said her parents are “so ectactic” that she is coming home for a time. 

Katie, a senior at Stonehill College is a Psychology major. She will graduate this May and plans to move back in with her parents post-graduation.

She is looking to work for one year and then hopes to attend graduate school the following year close to home. Additionally, she is excited to be back home because she said, “it’s a great environment.” 

She is currently not in the financial position to rent or own an apartment, so moving back in with her parents will help her save money. 

“They are dying to have me back home,” Davis said.

Covid, along with a difficult economy are the main drivers of more young adults living at home. This trend is difficult to predict, however Sigelman says “it is a longer-term thing.” This trend may not go away for a while.