This recent article from the Wall Street Journal offers some good financial planning advice for families with adult children moving home.Their key tips:
- Establish a Plan
- Share personal financial information
- Preserve retirement plans
- Older parents are the boss (for familes with 3 or more generations living together)
- Household contributions
You can read the whole article here.
In Australia, the Australian Temperament Project has been following the life of nearly 2000 Australians since they were born in 1983. Now 23- or 24-years old, these young adults are giving some input into how they view their relationships with their parents.
Here are some interesting recent findings from the Project:
- 88 per cent of young adults said they still counted on their parents for advice and emotional support, though only 70 per cent of parents thought of themselves as still helping in that role
- 94 per cent of young people said their relationship with their parents was important to them
- 84 per cent said their parents played a major role in their lives
The most recent findings are published in in the current issue of the journal Family Matters. You can read an article about the study here.
New results from statistics New Zealand show that 20% of 20- to 34-year-old men live with their parents — but only 13% of women in the same age range do. In Australia, 27% of men in the same age group live at home.
Here’s a quote from Bernard Salt, a social demographer, from an article from press.co.nz:
Men are living at home well into their 20s because they get free meals, free board, free laundry and free access to the family car. And you can have your girlfriend stay in your bedroom overnight, so why would you ever leave home?”
You can read the whole article in which Salt is quoted here.
Here’s a link to a lovely article written by a mother whose adult daughter is moving home after 5 years away. Like so many other young people, she is moving home because there are no good job prospects for her in the area where she’s been living, so she’s moving back to Mom’s home to find entry-level work and save some cash.
Kathy Scott, the mother and writer of the article, sums up many parents’ feeling about adult children moving home beautifully:
I am anxious to see her, and at the same time anxious about what this change will mean to both of us. I have had five years with her being only an occasional visitor… What will happen once she is back in our home, and I inevitably fall back into the role of watchful mother?
You can read the whole article here.
According to a new survey from the National Retail Federation, 58.5% of college students will live with their parents this year:
12.8 percent of survey respondents say the economy will impact where a student lives, with many choosing to save money by living at home. Nearly three out of five (58.5%) college students will be living at home this year, compared to 54.1 percent last year and 49.1 percent in 2007. As a result, fewer students will live in a dorm room or college house (15.8% vs. 18.0% in 2008) and in off campus apartments or homes (22.4% vs. 24.3% in 2008).
You can read the full write-up of the survey here.
According to a new study published in the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, adult men who live at home with their parents are more likely to use drugs, get in fights, and engage in risky sexual behavior than their independent peers. The authors of the study suggest that a lack of responsibilities for living expenses or a young family is part of the problem:
Violence outside of the home and involving strangers can be construed as one among a series of hedonistic and negative social behaviours – including hazardous drinking, drug misuse, sexual risk-taking and non-violent anti-social behaviour – exhibited by a subgroup without responsibilities of providing their accommodation, supporting dependent children, or ameliorating effects on their behaviour of living with a female partner.
You can read an article that provides more information on this study here.
The LA Times recently conducted an interview with David J. Palmiter Jr., professor and director of the Psychological Services Center at Marywood University in Pennsylvania and a contributor to the American Psychological Assn.’s Help Center. He suggests that parenting adult children living at home can be even more difficult than parenting during the “terrible 2s” or teenage years.
You can read the abbreviated transcript of the interview here.
Starting in February, health insurers in Wisconsin will be required to provide health insurance coverage for adult children living at home up to the age of 26, as long as they are not married and are not eligible for health insurance at work. You can read an article about the new legislation here.
A new survey from VibrantNation.com, a website for successful women over the age of 50, has found that almost half of boomer women are supporting their adult children financially, and more than a third are dipping into their own retirement savings to do so.
Here are the key findings from their survey, which was sent to over 50,000 members, e-newsletter subscribers, Facebook fans and Twitter followers:
- You Never Stop Being a Parent: 44% of Boomer women report that they are helping their adult children financially and otherwise more than they anticipated or budgeted because of the economy.
- 24-Hour Mom ATM: More than one quarter of Boomer women are helping adult children with housing costs (29%) and daily living expenses (26%). Fewer, though still rather significant percentages, are helping with education (17%) and healthcare (17%) costs.
- Dipping into the Piggy Bank: 35% reported that they are using funds set aside for their retirement/future to help an adult child and/or grandchild.
- The Un-Empty Nest Syndrome: 37% of Boomer women say they have one or more adult child currently living with them. Of these, 29% reported that they charge their adult child rent and 16% have set a limit on how long the adult child can remain. Of those who said they had set a limit, 45% have extended their original deadline because of the recession.
As you’ll know if you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, we recommend against dipping into retirement savings or otherwise compromising your own financial situation to support your adult kids. Help your kids in whatever way feel right for you, but remember to take care of yourself, too.
You can read more about the VibrantNation survey in their press release here.
This great article from the TimesOnline shares stories from families with adult children living at home — including one mother who’s thrilled to have her adult kids returning to the nest, and another who’s a bit annoyed that her lawyer son is still at home at age 26. There are some interesting notes about how the stages at which young adults have left the nest have changed over the years.