Adults Living with Parents

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According to data from the decennial census and the American Community Survey (ACS) the percentage of young people (ages 18 to 35) living with parents is increasing. With just over 30% of young people living with at least one parent, this marks the highest percentage reported since 1940 (36.7%). In 1980, 22.8% of 18- to 35-year-olds lived with at least one parent. By 2009 this rate had increased by almost a third to 30.3%. This is the largest percentage reported by any decennial census since 1940.

About 80% of the net increase in percentage of young adults living with parents over the past three decades can be attributed to the last decade; the percentage of 18- to 35-year-olds living with at least one parent in 2009 was 6% higher than the percentage living with at least 1 parent in 2000, representing almost a 25% increase between the 2000 Census and the 2009 ACS (Figure 2).

It seems that this increase is largely due to individuals in the older range, specifically 27- to 35-year-olds (Figures 1 and 3). Since 1980 the percentage of 27- to 35-year-olds living with at least one parent has almost doubled, with approximately a 93% increase. The increase in 18- to 26-year-olds living with at least one parent has been less extreme than in the older age group, but has also increased substantially; the 35.7% reported in the 1980 census had increased by almost a quarter in 2009, with 44.8% of 18- to 26-year-olds living with at least one parent in 2009.

References: Steven Ruggles, J. Trent Alexander, Katie Genadek, Ronald Goeken, Matthew B. Schroeder, and Matthew Sobek. Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version 5.0 [Machine-readable database]. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2010. Source: IPUMS samples, 1980-2009