Young adults are finding it increasingly difficult to get ahead financially, with many relying on their parents for an affordable and accommodating living situation, according to a recent survey.
Nearly half of all young adults are living at home with their parents, an exclusive survey conducted by Harris Poll for Bloomberg found. This cultural shift has gained acceptance across the country as millennials and Gen Z contend with financial stresses caused by rampant inflation and interest rate headwinds, lingering student loan debt, and ballooning rent and home prices.
Becoming self-sufficient is much more difficult for young adults today than it was for earlier generations, according to Carol Sigelman, a professor of social psychology at George Washington University.
“We’re in an economy where it’s harder to live independently,” said Sigelman, per Bloomberg. “Adults recognize that it’s tough these days.”
Nearly 90% of the 4,100 adult respondents in the August Harris poll said they believed that young adults shouldn’t be judged for moving back in with their parents.
In total, roughly 23 million Americans, or about 45% of all adults ages 18 to 29, are currently living with their parents. This is the highest percentage in about 80 years, according to Bloomberg.
In fact, the last time the U.S. saw such a large share of adults living with their parents was in the 1940s, toward the tail end of the Great Depression.
Today’s young adults are facing limited lower-income housing alternatives, widespread layoffs in 2022 and 2023, and pressure from student loan debt, soaring inflation, and interest rates.
“Our generation hasn’t been set up for success,” said Grace Seymour, a graduate student who opted to continue her schooling after having struggled to land a job in her degree field following the pandemic in 2020.
“I’m so happy I’m not in this rat race of working, paying for food and housing, and having nothing left,” she said, per Bloomberg.
This sentiment is shared by Naomi Alvarado, a 27-year-old University of Texas at Arlington graduate who currently lives with her parents in El Paso.
“People my age were being fed this dream that you could go to college, get a job in corporate America, and buy a house. That dream is unattainable,” said Alvarado, according to Bloomberg.
“I felt like I was just climbing the corporate ladder and trying to do what society says. But now I’m heavily questioning working in corporate America because of the work-life balance,” she explained.
It’s harder for young adults to succeed in today’s economy than it was in previous generations, according to Lillian Zhang, a 23-year-old graduate with a well-paying Silicon Valley tech job. Despite landing a solid job after graduation, Zhang opted to move in with her parents, where she wouldn’t be allocating half her paycheck toward rent.
“It’s sad because back in the day you could just have one job, support yourself, and save money for a house,” Zhang said, per Bloomberg. “But I feel like it’s really difficult to do that in this economy.”
According to the poll, about 70% of participants living with their parents in August said they would be in a worse financial situation if they weren’t.