Author Archives: Christina Newberry

Adult children living at home in California: Graphic

This interesting info-graphic from the Bay Area News Group shows how the percentage of adult children living at home has increased in California in the last 10 years. The most interesting thing to not? Adults over 18 now make up 30.7% of the children living with their parents. That is, almost a third of parents with children at home are living with adult children.

adult children living at home

Adult children living at home | Image Credit: Bay Area News Group

You can read the article that originally featured this infographic on the InsideBayArea website here.

Adult children at home in Australia? Fill out a University of Queensland Survey

Univerity of Queensland psychology honors student Emma Tarrant is conducting research to investigate “the attitudes and perceptions of the parents of adult children who still live at home.” Her goal is to determine how Australian parents are dealing with the fact that their children are staying at home longer, and whether they would benefit from additional support. You can read more about the study, and find a link to complete the short online survey, on the University of Queensland website here.

Toronto TV show looking for families with adult kids at home

A Toronto-based TV production company is casting families in the Greater Toronto Area with boomerang children to participate in a new documentary. Are your 20-30 something children driving you crazy because they won’t leave home? Uninterested in finding a job and living off of you? Do you ever wonder when your children will move out and look after themselves? If so, they would love to hear from you. Please call Jeff at 416 644 1792 ext. 29.

54% of parents say there's no set time when adult kids need to leave

The latest 60 Minutes/Vanity fair poll asked an interesting question: Generally speaking, at what point do you think children are too old to be living at home with their parents? The surprising answer? Fifty-four percent of parents say there’s no set time when they should leave — not when they get married, graduate from college, or even get a full-time job. What about you — would you welcome your kids back home at any age, no matter their marital or employment situation? You can see the poll on the Vanity Fair website here.

Contest for stories about living with parents

MyApartmentMap.com is currently running a contest for the best story from an adult child about lessons learned living with their parents. The prize is $100, and you can learn more about the contest at http://www.facebook.com/MyApartmentMap. Who knows — it could be a neat way to get your adult child thinking about what they have gained from the experience of living with you… and I’m sure $100 wouldn’t hurt on the path to independence!

Please note that adultchildrenlivingathome.com is not affiliated with this contest — just thought I’d let you know about it. Enjoy!

Interesting perspective from an adult son living at home

This video from WUSA9 in Rockville, MD, shows an interesting perspective from an adult son living at home. The family dynamics in the video are interesting to watch, but the revelation comes at the end, when the young man says that he would view having his own place as a “luxury” — the luxury part being that he wouldn’t “have to hear the nagging.” But he views that luxury as being worth only $100-$200 — not the $1,000 it would cost him to get an apartment of his own. So, he’s happy to stay put and live for free, with being “nagged” the only price he has to pay…

Do your kids see you as a nuisance they’d pay a few hundred dollars to avoid? If so, it’s time to have a serious talk about the reasons why your adult child is living at home, and a timeline for them to move out.

This video is from a WUSA9 news story at http://wusa9.com/news/article/153351/373/More-Adult-Kids-Live-With-Parents-

Need some comic relief? 10 things not to say to your boomerang kid

A little bit of humor today from The Associated Press, as printed in the Southtown Star. Among the recommended comments to avoid? “I’m sure we all need a break from stress, but you need a job before you know what real stress is.” Check out the rest of the list here: Parents: Want to be on good terms with the newly minted college grad? 10 things not to say

An interesting take on the cultural shift toward financial dependence

An interesting article in Psychology Today talks about why more adult children are moving home, and some of the reasons why this is no longer a temporary phenomenon, but part of a larger cultural shift. Neither parents nor adult children feel embarrassment or a sense of failure when the adult children remain financially dependent well into their twenties or even thirties, as would have been the case a generation ( or even half a generation) ago.

You can read this interesting take on the not-so-empty nests of the Boomer Generation here.

A positive living-at-home experience, from the adult kid's point of view

Unfortunately, we often have to talk about the challenges that arise when adult children move home – and there can be many. But there can also be many benefits. For the adult child, there are obvious financial benefits. But there are also benefits that involve the chance to develop deeper relationships with parents and any younger siblings still living at home. Tegan Flanagan described her experience living with her parents (bringing her boyfriend with her, no less) in a great piece for liquid ideas. Among her observations:

It’s not ‘cool’ to admit this but I actually enjoy seeing my parents and brother every day and from an economic perspective it just makes sense to live together under the one roof – the space is there to be shared, less food is wasted when there are more mouths to eat it. Sharing a meal around the dinner table and debriefing on the day is also really quite cathartic.

You can read her piece on liquid ideas here.


Tax savings for parents with adult children living at home

Reuters has an article that all parents with adult children living at home should read before sending off their taxes. According to the article, low-income adult children could save you up to $6000 in taxes. That’s a significant savings that will make a big dent in the extra expenses your adult child is adding to your household! You can read the article by clicking here.