Category Archives: News

Less stigma for adult children living at home

We all know by now that it’s becoming more and more common for adult children to live at home well into their twenties, thirties, or even forties. Fortunately for families dealing with all the extra challenges of extra adults in the home, social stigma is becoming less of a concern. With so many young adults still living with Mom and Dad, their friends (and their parents’ friends) are becoming less and less likely to think there’s anything wrong with the living arrangement.

This recent article from the Wall Street Journal explains why it’s becoming socially acceptable for young people to rely on their parents for a few extra years.

Australian TV drama "Packed to the Rafters" features family with adult children living at home

Families with adult children living at home must be coming more common, and more socially acceptable — they’re starting to show up on TV!

Here’s the descripion of Australian TV station Channel Seven’s new family drama “Packed to the Rafters”:

Meet Dave and Julie Rafter (Erik Thomson and Rebecca Gibney) – just your average Australians with three grown-up children. On the eve of their twenty-fifth wedding-anniversary it seems they’re at last about to have the house to themselves. Offspring Rachel, Ben and Nathan (played by newcomers Jessica Marais, Hugh Sheridan and Angus McLaren) have all developed into well-rounded and out-going, if exceptionally different and complex, individuals, with a raft of their own conflicts and dilemmas. But home can seem a very welcome refuge when unforeseen problems loom.

Source: ebroadcast.com.au

Meet the 3 families of "The Nest"

Back in March, we told you about a producer looking for families with adult children living at home for a TV show he was shooting in Sydney, Australia. Over 300 families, applied, but the three who will be featured have now been chosen

  • Paul and Jenny Wilkinson, who share their home with four adult children aged 20-27, plus their son Aaron’s live-in girlfriend.
  • Chris and Kerri Curran, who have two of their three children still living at home.
  • Oscar and Marta Troche, who adult daughter Anielka, 25, is in no hurry to move out.

The Nest airs on Australian TV station SBS on June 28.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Who pays for grad school?

With so many adult children returning home after completing an undergraduate degree, families are facing a new question: who pays for grad school? A generation ago, it would have been virtually unheard of for parents to pay for a master’s degree, but with many grad school students or applicants still living with Mom and Dad, parents may end up bearing some financial burden when their kids go to grad school, even if they’re not paying the tuition.

This article offers tips on how to help your adult kids decide on financing options for grad school — and whether it makes sense for you to help foot the bill.

Your health insurance may cover your adult child — up to age 30!

Many states are passing legislation that requires employer-provided health care to extend coverage to dependent adult children living at home well past the tradition cut-off age of 19 for non-students.

For example, in Kentucky adult children lliving at home must be covered by the parent’s employer-provided health insurance up to age 25, whether they’re students or not. In New Jersey, depending on the situation, your adult child may be covered up to age 30.

This article looks at the issue from the employer’s perspective, but it also provides a good overview of what the new trends in legislation are. Take a look to see what teh current guidelines are for your state, then make sure you take advantage of them!

Should they stay or should they go?

Knowing a kid’s optimum exit date remains a mystery, according to a recent Globe article  about adult children living at home.

There’s no perfect age to move out, Dr. Galambos says.

“That’s the million-dollar question,” she says. “It’s so important to take into account the individual and their strengths and weaknesses when making these decisions. Don’t push a kid out too soon. But don’t keep him or her there too long.”

Older adult children coming home again

This new article points to the rising number of adult “children” in their 40s and 50s moving back home when life throws them a challenge.

Kim Foss Erickson, a financial planner in Roseville, California, north of Sacramento, said she has never seen older children, even those in their 50s, depending so much on their parents as in the last six months.

“This is not like, ‘OK, my son just graduated from college and needs to move back in’ type of thing,” she said. “These are 40- and 50-year-old children of my clients that they’re helping out.”

Parents “jeopardize their financial freedom by continuing to subsidize their children,” said Karin Maloney Stifler, a financial planner in Hudson, Ohio, and a board member of the Financial Planning Association. “We have a hard time saying no as a culture to our children, and they keep asking for more.”

80,000 3-generation homes in the UK

Over 80,000 household in the UK now have 3 generations living in them, with the middle generation supporting both their parents and their children (including adult children), according to insurance provider Prudential.

Other interesting facts from their recent survey:

  • 18% of respondents said they had adult children living at home
  • 74% of parents surveyed are worried their children will live with them into their adulthood because they will be unable to afford to buy homes
  • 15% of respondents have adult children or elderly relatives living nearby that they regularly look after and do chores for