Yahoo Finance Grown and still at home: Why young adults are moving back home and staying longer
Despite an improving job market, more millennials are moving back home with their parents – and staying longer. A third of 18- to 34-year-olds are living with their families -- more than during the Great Recession, according to a recent analysis from the Pew Research Center.
Yahoo Finance spoke with some 20-somethings and their parents to hear what they had to say.
Weighed down by student debt
It’s nearly impossible to live a comfortable lifestyle when you’re drowning in student loan debt. The most recent class graduated with the most debt in history – an average of $35,051. And once you have your college diploma in hand, you only have six months before you have to start paying it back.
While all the millennials we interviewed said they were able to find a job after graduating, every one of them felt financially unprepared to live on their own because of their education debt.
Welcoming parents
Parents are welcoming their adult kids back home with open arms – for now. In an effort to help them tackle their debt, parents we spoke to said they weren’t asking their children to help with the household bills. Some were, however, expected to pay their own cellphone bills.
Under their parents’ roof, many recent grads are saving thousands of dollars each month, money that would’ve gone to rent and food if they lived on their own. Some parents are using this opportunity to teach their kids to budget and save.
So despite the lack of privacy and having to live by their parents’ rules again, the benefits outweigh the cons for many young workers who choose to stay at home even if they’re not kids anymore.
When do you think it's time to move out of your parents' house and live on your own? Tell us at yfmoneymailbag@yahoo.com.
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