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Millennials have jobs, but still live with parents
Posted On Jul 30 2015
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A new report from the Pew Research Center finds that the percentage of 18 to 34-year-olds moving back in with their parents increased to 26 percent from 24 percent during the recession year of 2010. Though national unemployment numbers must always be taken with a grain of salt, overall earnings are also up slightly. Richard Fry, a senior researcher at Pew and the author of the new report, says economists are scratching their heads to an extent. Or is it just that it’s more socially acceptable now?
When the recession first hit in 2007, 22 percent of millennials lived with their parents, Pew said. Yet the share of young adults living independently – that is, “in a household headed by the adult, his or her spouse or unmarried partner, or some other person not related to the adult” – was 67 percent in the first four months of 2015, down from 69 percent in 2010 and 71 percent in 2007.
How much do millennials love their parents?
“This may have important consequences for the nation’s housing market recovery, as the growing young adult population has not fueled demand for housing units and the furnishings, telecom and cable installations and other ancillary purchases that accompany newly formed households”, the report notes. “My expectation was that as the labor market improves, more young people will strike out on their own, but that’s not the case”.
The findings, published by the Pew Research Center, come as youth unemployment fell from 12.4 per cent in 2010 to 7.7 per cent now, while average weekly earnings have increased to $574, from a low of $547 in 2012.
Crushing student debt is another significant launchpad barrier for Millennials with degrees.
It’s also possible that the impetus to live with family isn’t entirely economic. Likewise, young adults’ feelings about shacking up with mom and dad may have transformed: “There simply may not be any stigma associated with it”, Fry said.
And Millennials who didn’t need college loans, because they had parents wealthy enough to support them?
