There are more young adults living with parents than at any point since the 1940s

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There are more young adults living with parents than at any point since the 1940s, says a new report from Apartment List economists.

Housing affordability is forcing young adults between 25 and 35 to live with parents out of necessity and not out of choice.

“Fewer than one-in-five are earning incomes that would allow them to comfortably afford local rent prices, a far lower share than in the past. The prevalence of young adults living with parents is increasing in all parts of the country, and for both those with and without college degrees,” Apartment List Senior Housing Economist Chris Salviati writes.

Less than one in five earn enough to move out on their own

For the 25-to-35 age group incomes have gradually declined over the past few years.

For example, the median annual income of employed 25- to 35-year-olds who lived with their parents was $32,000. After adjusting for inflation, this was down by 10 percent compared to 2000.

“Among young adults who live at home, the share who could comfortably afford to live independently has fallen dramatically.

“For the purpose of this analysis, we assume that an individual was in a financial position to move out of their parents’ home if they could have paid the median rent for studio and 1-bedroom apartments in the county where they lived without spending more than 30 percent of their individual income on rent,” Salviati writes.

As of 2022, just 18 percent of young adults living at home were earning incomes that would have allowed them to comfortably strike out on their own.

College degrees make a difference

Those with college degrees are less likely to live with parents, even though some do.

However, “Young-adults without college degrees are far more likely to live with their parents; one-in-five of them live at home, a rate that has more than doubled from just 8 percent in 1980. The non-college-educated make up 71 percent of all 25- to 35-year-olds who live with their parents,” the report says.

Summary 

The report concludes that living at home is more prevalent among those without degrees, but the number of college-educated young adults who live with their parents is also higher than it’s ever been, as growing student debt exacerbates the pressure of high housing costs.

“This trend speaks to the way in which today’s economic realities are forcing many of America’s younger generations to delay major milestones on the path to adulthood,” Salviati writes.

Source: Rental Housing Journal