For the first time ever, more millennials are living with their parents than are married or living with a partner, almost one-third. This otherwise intelligent AP article citing the Pew study starts with a silly sentence say these millennials are “in no hurry to move out of their old bedrooms.” I think it’s much more likely they can’t afford to move out or get married because they can’t find employment that will pay for ever-more expensive housing, especially when wages are falling. (And indeed the article does goes on to say this.)
It’s a bit of a rat trap. There is less housing on the market because boomers getting ready to downsize, can’t because they still have a child living at home. This makes housing, including rentals, more expensive. The cost of living rises as competition for jobs increases and wages drop. And if they want anything more than a McJob, competition is even more pronounced. So, they sit in the parent’s house and noodle on LinkedIn.
For the first time on record, living with parents is now the most common arrangement for people ages 18 to 34, an analysis of census data by the Pew Research Center has found.
The pattern may be a contributing factor in the sluggish growth of the U.S. economy, which depends heavily on consumer spending. With more young people living with their parents rather than on their own, fewer people need to buy appliances, furniture or cable subscriptions.
One explanation for the sparse supply [of homes for sale] is that many baby boomers aren’t able to sell their family homes and downsize for retirement because they still have adult children living with them. Redfin surveyed homeowners ages 55 to 64 and found that one-fifth still have adult children at home.