Young adults can go home again

Birds of prey such as condors and eagles often return to the same nests year after year for many generations, but a recent trend seems to indicate that many young Americans aren't waiting that long. Increasingly, young adults are moving back in with their parents more often and for longer periods of time.

According to an article by Pamela Paul in the June issue of American Demographics, 18 million unmarried 20- to 34-year-olds currently live with their parents. Given the total number of the generation's singles, that's 38 percent-and the number seems likely to increase. This year, 56 percent of college students (670,000) plan to live at home for a period of time after graduation, and 19 percent anticipate staying longer than a year.

This marks a shift in both numbers and attitudes. Thirty years ago, only nine percent of men and seven percent of women lived at home. As recently as 1998, those figures had risen to only fifteen and eight percent.

American Demographics speculated that the shift is at least partly generational. In the early 1990s, Gen Xers were often forced to live at home by a job market that wouldn't fulfill the promise of their college degrees. The ongoing trend softened the negative judgments toward the end of the decade, making both parents and children more comfortable with the situation. Since the late 1990s, the generation of college graduates has shifted from Generation X and their Silent Generation parents to so-called Gen Y, whose baby boomer families are much more flexible in support of their children.

The current job market also lends itself to the security of the home. Young adults could pursue vocational or associate's degrees, or earn their bachelor's, master's, or doctorate. Job options run from full-time to only temporary, and as of the year 2000, 27 percent of college students didn't expect to work longer than a year at their first job. This outweighs by five points the percentage who planned to stay longer than three years.

In addition, the home may be preferable to a generation that is choosing to marry and start homes of their own at later ages. In 1960, women typically married at around 20 years old. Today, women tend to marry near 25, and men near 27.

Many historical markers of adulthood have lost significance or have been delayed: marriage, college or high school graduation, military service, religious ritual, or the onset of puberty. As definitions fluctuate, so too do does resistance to a crowded nest.