Are you a single young adult still living at home with Mom and Dad? You’re in good company.
For the first time since 1880, when records on this sort of thing began to be kept, Americans aged 18-34 are more likely to live with their parents than with a spouse or significant other, according to the Pew Research Center.
A Pew study released Wednesday shows that 32.1% of Americans in that age group live in their parents’ house, while 31.6% live with a spouse or partner in their own homes and 14 percent live alone, as single parents or in a home with roommates or renters. The remainder live with another family member, a nonfamily member or in group-living situations such as a college dorm or prison.
To be clear, there was a time when the proportion of young people 18-34 living at home was higher than today— 35% in 1940. But then, living with a spouse or partner was even more popular than that—close to 50%.
To break down today’s demographics, American men are more likely to be “Mama’s boys,” if we can use such a term. Males between 18 and 34 live with their parents 35% of the time and with a spouse or partner 28%, while for women, 35% live with a spouse or significant other, while 29% live with their parents.
The overall trend is the same for every demographic group: living with parents is increasingly common.
Lest you think that all of this can be explained by recent economic trends, Pew points out that the rise in the number of young adults living at home started before the economic crash. Male unemployment has been on the rise for decades, the study says.
As well, fewer young people are married than in decades past.
[Editor’s Note: Take the Poll — Why do you think more millennials are still living at home?]
And today we celebrate...