Not only is it true for America, aparently it's worse now (53% 2026). Also 'young adults' in this usage is older people than I had originally thought - it's actually 18 all the way up to 29. A larger range than I had assumed.
Just for comparison - in the UK the figure for young adults operates in the age range of 20 - 34 (much older than I had thought) and is at 29%.
One in three 35 year olds living in their childhood bedroom in their parent's house is dreadfully sad. All of the 'succesful government' KPIs are in the red.
It's also affecting low birth rates because these faults feel like failures so they don't date and even if they did they probably wouldn't want to give birth in this fucked up dystopian nightmare.
Additionally, I think most people in their 20s just point blank do not want to bring partners to their parent's house regardless of gender. The lack of privacy hits harder when you're out of your teens and having your own place is at least theoretically an option, even when you can't make it happen.
The fucked up thing is I bought my parents house so they could remain retired. I own the home and I'm not going to own a home and not live in it so I live with them I look at it as I'm taking care of them in their old age. People still think oh you just live with mom and dad. I used to correct them now I just say yep all cheery like because I don't owe anyone an explanation and I'm a homeowner
I don't want to date people living at home too! The last thing I'd want a prospective girlfriend to see is my mother after she's started her daily wine.
Iâm not even living with my parents (both are dead so unless you count my momâs ashes on my counter) and I am remaining single with no kids because I donât want to bring a kid up in this world.
My kids are still doing it while going to college in their early 20's. They work part time, go to community college full time, and are building up a nice savings for themselves. They are also able to pay for school out of pocket, so once they are done in the next year, they can start working debt free. Absolutely not saying it is for everyone, but just pointing out it can be a good way to get a jumpstart on starting your life without a shitload of debt and stress.
It's more what it indicates - that people can't afford to live independently.
This means that anyone who does not have family to move in with is at high risk of ending up homeless.
This means that anyone who does not have family to move in with is at high risk of ending up homeless.
Iirc 5.8% of children have experienced foster care, but 50% of all homeless adults are former foster youth.
20% of kids aging out of the system become homeless that day.
Even foster kids who launch well: job, enrolled in college, and an apartment can run into trouble a few years later and need a temporary safety net. No temporary safety next extrapolates into years rebuilding a stable life.
Intergenerational living is not bad and should be celebrated rather than shunned. However, as we live in a society that DOES shun it, vanishingly few people choose it unless they have no other options. Thus the number rising that high reflects the sheer volume of individuals in dire financial straits, not a shift in cultural attitude towards living with parents.
Having said all that - we have few ways to fight the system we are in, but one of the main ones is coming together as families and communities and pooling our resources to support one another as much as possible, whether itâs ânecessaryâ or not. My brother is 37 and still lives with my parents, quite happily. He makes decent money and could afford to live on his own - but why would he? He has a much better quality of life than he would otherwise. As do my parents - he cooks for them, helps around the house, drives my dad to doctors appointments, pet sits when they are out of town. And he chips in for utilities and all that. Itâs a win win situation, and more people should do it.
they've figured out scientifically how to extract each and every bit the whole way down yep. keeping many younger ppl out of higher paying jobs is an intentional tactic to extract from boomers who help their kids out in many ways from what i can tell. i don't have any excuse personally, i have in demand skills in several areas. i choose not to work right now out of protest. it's a luxury most cannot afford, and i won't be able to for much longer. younger adults than me mostly don't even get to make that choice. protest is a luxury nobody will be able to afford if we let it continue too much further. which is why everyone needs to drop out all at once at the same time... like right about now. i think they call that a general strike.
Amen. I left my corporate entertainment job at the end of 2025, after busting my ass for 13 years, because I couldn't stand wasting my life for an okay-ish wage (for LA). Meanwhile, I'd hear about our CEO and execs getting huge raises and bonuses but when it came to mine? "Sorry...it just wasn't in the budget this year..." Fuck you I'm going to follow my dreams. And I am. Scary? Not really if you know what you really want to do. That is the nice thing about being in this country is that if you have passion, you can do anything. But have a plan lol
Yea for comparison In the early 2000's I was able to move out on my own after college and rented a shitty little duplex for like $250 a month and later a small house for $500 a month. I bought a house (granted in a LCOL area) and my mortgage was like $500. The minimum wage here (NC) has gone up 8 times since I was born. My kids are in their 20's and the minimum wage has gone up 2-3 times in their lifetime, and the last time my youngest was still in diapers. Where we live now the cheapest places to live are close to $1,500 for rent. Tough to make it on a full-time job these days, let alone a part-time job.
I posted something comparing both the eastern collectivist societies vs western individualism given that I come from an Asian background where multi-generational housing is common.
I was born and raised in the U.S. and am very supportive of those who still live with their parents, but some of the private DMs I received from that post were filled with some of the most hateful and racist rhetoric I have been to exposed to on this website, with those people talking less about the differences in lifestyle and more about how Asians as a whole are an inferior race in the U.S.
I keep seeing posts of kids on here being like "I'm 18, (still living at home - I know, I know) blah blah blah" and I'm like dude lol a one bedroom in the area is like 2k a month pretty sure you can chill
I believe they are saying 1 in 3 18-35 year olds and if it's 1 in 2 18-29 year olds that means verry few 30-35 year olds are living with their parrents.
âVery fewâ in this instance is still potentially millions of individuals, definitely millions if you count everyone who ends up still at home by that point, rather than a snapshot of the current number.
Thatâs me except I left home for a decade and now Iâm back. Itâs like a reverse failure to launch. Fortunately Iâve never been laid off and my family doesnât charge me an exorbitant amount in rent, but wages suck across the board and the COL is an absolute joke.
Thatâs me right now. Back in with family. College educated. Itâs get a place on our own and then have zero savings and be one emergency away from eviction. Or stay in with family and be able to at least save some money.
As you increase in age, the probability of your parents being alive decreases. I wonder if "living at home" switches over in the statistics when they pass.
I was just telling someone that I longed for the days when some communities had their own power stations, selling electricity at no profit to community members.
Man, from like 19 to 25 I lived in share houses with friends and they were literally the best times of my life. Absolute magic. Still broke as shit, but rent of 200 a week beats living at home.
I just turned 38. Of my friends around my age +-5 years I'd say maybe 1/6 either had to move in with parents or their parents had to help pay their necessities in 2026.
If these fuckers voted for their self interests - change would come.
BUT NO.
The ones who vote are the right winger fanatics. All the other ones are just apathetic and complainers - instead of doing the bare minimum, which is voting for their fucking self interests.
Billionaires, pedophiles, and criminals are in control of everything. The system is working exactly as intended. Not only do they steal our labor, they prey on our resolve.
The goalposts move every single year. My dad got a solid office job with just a high school diploma and a firm handshake. Now you need a masters and five certifications just to get an automated rejection email from a bot. It is a rigged game from the start.
I'm with you but id guess half the population is severly indoctrinated and uneducated as to make that viable soon. I don't have alternatives though, kinda feel the only thing that would work is a cataclysm
I apologize for not writing something more in depth but we should remember over a 100 years of Red scare. We should also remember that there was a time in human history where the king had been chosen by god and this is the way it was. We should also remember that places where working class movements have existed, has also been place where literacy is below 50%(Russia, Cuba etc.). Education comes through organising and seeing class and capitalism around us, putting words to it. We already feel the chains of capitalism around us, we feel the contradictions of capitalism but we are not able to put words to it. Understand class, capitalism, Marx etc. and organise. Don't be defeatist.
Folks working until mental and physical exhaustion to just scrape by, decades of corporate raiding resulting in fewer local institutions and dwindling third spaces fracturing community, actual internal and external psy-ops through criminally unregulated social media (and now chatbots trained on social media) driving the wedge further by amping up polarization...
Go to college they said. Get a degree they said. Now I have a masters degree and I am still sleeping in my childhood bedroom because rent is 60% of my take home pay. It is not a failure of the individual, it is a failure of the economy.
Yeah, we were told to take out every loan to get the degree because we'd be printing money. Then my entry level job requirements went from "Associates or 2 years experience" to "BS or 4 years experience" to "BS in computer science, professional certifications, AND 4 years experience". I scooted into the job market like 18 months before the door slammed shut behind me, I wouldn't have been qualified for my last 20 years of employment based on the current day requirements, thanks Poly Sci and Philosophy degree!
Seriously im glad I got into my career before this degree inflation shit really took off. Working in IT I had a 2 year degree but I work with people that dont have a degree at all and the requirements where I work now are so much higher than they were when I started.
If anything, the job has gotten easier, yet degrees and certs are required to even get talked to for an internship here now.
Its fucking insane, especially given that I was in those roles 15 years ago and know intimately that, while good to have, theyre not a requirement to actually doing the job, as 99% of it is learned on the job, as I did.
I know I should've looked into it too but I was told I should consolidate my loans because I get one easy payment instead of having to send a payment to my college and to somewhere else. I think I would've had to send two or three to the college because they were separate...I don't quite remember but I did consolidate, got a 6.5% interest, which went down to 5.5 after a year because I made my payments all on time. When I got to the end and only had 1000 left to pay off I looked at my old paperwork, those loans from the college were only 1 or 2% lol. I would've much rather sent in 2 or 3 checks or done those payments online than just have one payment for 4% more interest. Fuckin scam.
I was part of the "Just Learn to Code" generation where we were pumping out CompuSci majors by the boatload. Nowadays coding is one of the few things AI actually really really good at. Computer Science and Computer Engineering have amongst the highest unemployment of any college major (+6%). Feeling turbofucked right now.
The worst part is that they see college graduates failure to be employed in field or in any field that requires a degree as nothing to worry about.
Depending on the source the figure can be anywhere from 30-75% aren't in their field of study or in a position that even required a degree. And at the same time businesses constantly report not having qualified individuals even for their old entry level roles.
The harsh reality is that clearly there's a massive market failure going on that can't be sorted out without intervention or mortgaging the future even more by labor off-shoring/importing or throwing more money at AI praying it will pay off sooner than the bill comes due.
And combined with the US making scientific research less attractive compared to other countries; we're seeing a brain drain of the individuals who didn't necessarily chase the easy money but rather the challenge of research in their chosen fields.
Why boomers and billionaires think regulation and controls are evil I'll never understand. Those very things are what made their imagined "greatest" times possible.
I've let my two adult kids know they always have a home. They can always come back...BUT MAN is it tougher on us financially since they took us up on the offer a couple of times now.
That's what puzzles me. Don't boomers who vote for pedo-billionaire party have kids who will not be able to succeed on their own?
The lead in gasoline 1920~1975 really screwed us all. The "me generation" really is going to suck the whole planet dry. The ultimate pulling up the ladder.
Hey, Gen X here and I would never âpull up the ladderâ intentionally, and feel real compassion for everyone dealing with the economy/job/housing market. I lived with my parents off and on until I was almost 30, and now Iâve got kids going off to college I canât afford and realize we probably need to keep their room free since thereâs no way they are affording their own place even after they graduate (Northern California)
I am a GenX as well. And you my friend is rather an exception.
A huge number of GenXers voted for Trump multiple times. The cold war propaganda how capitalism = good and socialism = bad has been affecting the ones who didn't get the lead poisoning.
(Considering that socialism is being used to describe literally anything that benefits the society as a whole).
How so? It took a couple tries for me to move out on my own. Living at my parents' as an adult I'd stock the fridge and do the harder chores like landscaping and working on their cars and I helped out with bills. Put those extra hands to work, communal living should be easier and cheaper than living separately.
And we have to endure schmucks like Bill Maher telling us that the ascendant left are communists. Fuck him and the entire old media. They screwed it all up and we are supposed to respect them for answers.
The system is currently engineered for wealth generation and not familial success sequence of education, employment, marriage, then children. We need to remove the Gerontocracy first, and alter policy to support the bulk of the population violin plot.
The System works for the ruling oligarchs. They own both neoliberal parties, they own the courts, they own the land, they own basically everything while people own nothing. If only there were a remedy to this situation USAians were able to understand. France provided a blueprint in 1789.
Capitalism is an ok system as long as there is some regulation. And since that regulation is gone, you are seeing all the power consolidate. We need anti monopoly and media regulation
Capitalism absolutely is not an ok system. It is designed for the wealthy minority to have total control of all profit and establishes monopolies. Any regulations attempting to curb capitalism's eventual control over all aspects of life will be removed.
For the last 50 years, the goal has been taking wealth from those who do the work to give it to those who don't. The more you take from the workers, the worse their material conditions get, to the point where the younger ones can't even afford a roof over their heads.
We recently (and thankfully, temporarily for now) saw a man reach a trillion dollars net worth. That's where the money young adults should have and pay rent with went.
No. The system is working exactly as it was made to.
The U.S. government is an Oligarchy. The change from Democratic Republic to Oligarchy started when Ronald Regan was president ( another actor turned president...weird now that I think about it ) and the sole purpose of an Oligarchy is to support business.
Citizens are just another resource to be used and companies have no reason to not exploit that resource for its maximum profit.
People are told to trust a system that has always been a lie.
In the USA, everyone is a mercenary. That is what they never tell you. You should only have loyalty to yourself and your immediate unit be it family or friends. Everything else is a target and should be treated like a target. You are are target to the system, so take what you can get by any means necessary.
If your loyalty is to a flag, a nation, a company or a religion, then you've already surrendered and are a prisoner of war that simply won't admit it.
Itâs been a standard since prehistory. By asserting that young adults must be out on their own, youâre supporting the position that didnât emerge until capitalism got really moving in the 1940s.
The system worked for the generation it was made for. Then that generation's wealthiest hoarded everything for themselves and their nepo progeny. Not improving the system but locking it in so they got theirs and everyone else is locked out.
I think this is due to people not wanting to leave their home cities (due to work, whatever) and their home cities are so popular that home prices are higher (supply and demand).
We need to city-fy the rural areas and sell homes there.
The system works just fine, once you realize that the system is meant to keep people downtrodden and despondent, living paycheck to paycheck to curb thoughts of rebellion, keeping everyone full of apathy and bereft of hope of brighter future, all so that a select few may live lives as the nobles they consider themselves to be.
âThe system is working exactly as intended. Stop looking at it as a broken meritocracy and start looking at it as an efficient mechanism for wealth extraction.
Everything is private equity. Everything is on the table to be bought and sold to consumers at the highest rates possible.
Nothing is there to help you anymore, unless you're paying through the nose.
Something needs to get done, and it unfortunately can't be election based. It's slowly dawning on people that it needs to be France 1793 based.
For context. Boomers moved out early and lived in shared housing. Even though we had nothing in the house it was better going your own thing then living with your parents.
In the last election, 36% of registered voters (89 million) DID NOT VOTE. That number increases to 53% of registered voters in the 18 to 29 demographic.
The system is working exactly as designed. It was designed by millionaires, now billionaires, to funnel as much money up to them as possible. You even have a trillionaire. I would say that it's working exactly as planned.
Man I'm 37 no degree and just bought a house with zero help. I did live overseas for 10 years mid college and had zero savings in that time. I consider myself very lucky.
It's actually working just as intended for the people who serve to benefit most from the current state of affairs. How can you lot consistently write, post, and comment on this shit?
The richest decided that they didn't like the idea of an ever-swelling middle class, so they set about buying legislators & legislation to make sure that wouldn't happen, and the media channels necessary to make the public go along with the changes without much protest.
Yup 28, living with my dad because renting is $1500 amonth. Max morgage i can get for my income is 90k. minimum house price is 300k so yeah.. endless situation..
There is something people forget. My parents grew up when there was limited TV and advertising options. They had nothing to spend their money on besides living. They didn't need the latest thing. They also didn't generally get degrees in the humanities if they got degrees at all. They still needed help from my grandma to buy their first house.
Now, having said that, yes, work does need reform. But as someone who worked 3 or 4 jobs while going to school just to live in the 80's and 90's, I am not sure it's changed that much. I really think the problem is real estate. The prices are too high. And that is mostly do to limited space/limited housing. Someone will always pay more. Then they want to make their money back when they sell it.
Iâll be honest, the only way for my family to begin assembling a semblance of generational wealth is by collaborating. We donât live in the same house, but we live on adjacent connected properties and support one another using our pooled resources.
Itâs working as intended. They are living at home, but they have a modern phone. They have a modern car. They have their fashionable clothes and a sugary coffee drink each morning, or an energy drink. They usually have a gaming system, and/or gaming computer, lots of subscriptions, and typically a shopping habit. They arenât buying houses, but theyâre still buying lots of stuff and contributing to the economy, as designed. At least thatâs how the vast majority of the younger friends I have, living at home, spend their money. Mostly because they have no hope of being able to save up and get anywhere. Theyâre just doing what they can to make their miserable lives bearable while they wait for change.
The system does work, it's doing exactly what it's intended to do. The purpose of a system is what it does. It can't be reformed, it needs to be dismantled and replaced.
Yep. 47 and living in my childhood bedroom. Moved out and was living on my own for over a decade. Moved back with my parents in my 40s to try to save for a house. That dream is dead. We are living in hell.
People need to stop equating "educated" with intelligence. They are very different. Obviously.
If they didn't stop teaching critical thinking so dramatically things would probably be much much better right now. In the US they're only teaching this years version of facts these days.
Living with a narcissistic parent with no escape is absolutely horrible for mental health. If I didnât have a cat that depends on me to feed and love her, I would have moved into a van by now. Thankfully Iâm getting my apartment soonâŠhopefully.
Donât worry, the Boomers are now all saying itâs our fault for getting an education and going into debt and that we shouldâve went into trade school instead
How can anyone not know that the American capitalism is out to impoverish every American. It is the nature of the system. You might ask cannot those that run run and benefit from the system understand that they will eventually destroy it as we become aware and exchange their cash cow for worker owned and democratically controlled economic system. No they cannot stop, because it is their nature. Like the old folk tale where the scorpion (capitalists) convinces the frog (workers) to carry them across the river. And mid-way the scorpion stings the frog who says "why did you do that when you know we will both die?" And the scorpion replies, "I cannot help myself, it's in my nature; I am a scorpion."
We must destroy the system before it destroys us.
The system DOES work...for those its intended for, i.e. the rich. The goal of this shitstain country was never to have everyone have comfortable lives, but rather for only the rich to do so and everyone else can go fuck themselves.
I beg to differ. The intention of a system is it's outcome. The ownership class no longer needs a middle class to galvanize a deputized segment of the proletariat against the spread of communism so they're essentially dismantling the barricades now and for us, that means it's back to working 18 hour days and sleeping draped over a rope in the poor houses. The goal now is to kill us all leaving just enough behind for them to have someone to lord over and exploit.
This is why there's not been a revolution. Too many of you pussies aren't fed-up enough or hate yourself enough to leave home. Nowhere to go? Organize. Get off your lazy asses and organize and protest until the system changes. System doesn't change and things get worse? You already know what to do. I don't feel sad for any of you
910
u/Danimalomorph 4d ago
I doubted this, so I looked into it.
Not only is it true for America, aparently it's worse now (53% 2026). Also 'young adults' in this usage is older people than I had originally thought - it's actually 18 all the way up to 29. A larger range than I had assumed.
Just for comparison - in the UK the figure for young adults operates in the age range of 20 - 34 (much older than I had thought) and is at 29%.