The number of young American adults living at home has gotten bad

Almost half of young American adults are living with their parents and they’re apparently not embarrassed to admit it, according to polling from Harris Poll conducted on behalf of Bloomberg News. But why is that the case?

Moving out of one’s childhood home is typically the moment that most American youths transition into their adult life. However, more and more young adults are deciding to stay at home while they save for their futures. 

Unfortunately, today roughly 23 million people, or 45% of adults between the ages of 19 and 29 live with their parents or grandparents according to Bloomberg News and Harris Poll’s survey data, the highest amount since the 1940s. 

Bloomberg News noted in its reporting on their survey data that there were a number of reasons why America’s young adults would choose to stick it out at home, including the country‘s bad job market and high inflation. 

Years of pandemic lockdowns and skyrocketing student debt levels have also played a role in keeping families together longer. But if you ask the country’s young adults about the situation they don’t shy away from it. 

Roughly 90% percent of the 4,106 individuals surveyed by Harris Poll and Bloomberg News said that people shouldn’t be judged for moving back in with mom and dad since it was a really good way to get ahead according to them. 

“We're in an economy where it's harder to live independently,” said George Washington University professor of social psychology Carol Sigelman, who added: “Adults recognize that it’s tough these days.”

The United States, along with a large part of the world, has been suffering from a series of post-pandemic woes that have seen interest rates skyrocket as inflation soared in the years following the reopening global economy.  

Post-pandemic Inflation peaked at 9.1% in June 2022, the highest rate it had been since November of 1981 according to CNBC, and in August when Harris Poll conducted it for Bloomberg, inflation was well above the target of 2%. 

Statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that August's inflation rate jumped to a moderately high 3.7% on all items. However, that percentage doesn’t tell the true story of the cost problems young Americans are facing. 

The average national median rental price in the United States in August was $2,038 dollars and that was not down much from a year before when that number had reached $2.053 according to a monthly report from Rent.com. 

Home prices are just as unaffordable for young Americans. August’s national median average home price reached 416,100 according to Rocket Homes, which might explain why so many American adults are still living with mom and dad. 

In the survey data from Bloomberg News and Harris Poll, 41% of those surveyed between the ages of 18 and 29 (329) said that they still lived at home in order to save money while the next largest group (30%) were doing it to take care of family. 

Another 30% indicated that they couldn’t afford to live on their own, 28% noted that they do it to help out with expenses at home, 24% responded that they stayed with mom and dad so they could save for a down payment, and 19% did it to pay down debt. 

“Millennials who graduated into the 2008 financial crisis had also questioned their ability to be independent, with many temporarily living with their parents before getting back on track,” wrote Paulina Cachero and Claire Ballentine of Bloomberg News. 

“The majority of millennials are now homeowners themselves. But for Gen Z, it’s unclear if they too are experiencing a delayed milestone or if a broader swath of the generation is getting left behind,” Cachero and Ballentine added. 

Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer for America’s young adults. But at least they aren’t afraid of the stigma that can be attached to those who are still living with their parents well into their 20s and 30s.