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Young Adults Continuing to Live at Home

For many, when it rains, it pours, and many new and young adults got dealt a bad hand at the outset of the pandemic, when lockdowns eliminated many of their service-related jobs, drained their savings, and ultimately forced them to move back home. 

But things over the last two years have gotten better; lockdowns are over, a vaccine is readily available, and jobs have since returned. However, the majority of those that moved back home in the early months of the pandemic have yet to move out again. 

According to a new survey [1] commissioned by LendingTree [2] (and conducted by Qualtrics [3]), 32% of all millennials and Gen Zers moved back home with their parents during the pandemic; two-thirds of those that moved home still remain. 

Three-in-10 Gen Zers (now aged 18-25) moved home in order to save money the survey found, followed by 18% of younger millennials (now aged 26-34) and 17% of older millennials (ages 35-41). 

Looking deeper, the younger age groups were found to be the most likely to move back out—14% of younger millennials have moved out, followed by 13% of Gen Zers , and 8% of older millennials. 

Ten percent indicated that they are still considering moving home to save money. The 35- to 41-year-old group is the most adamant about avoiding a move back under their parents’ roof (67%), followed by those ages 26 to 34 (56%) and those 18 to 25 (49%). 

Gen Zers and millennials indicated two main reasons for moving home: 51% said it was out of necessity, for the other 49% it was to save money. 

“With inflation as high as it is and with rates rising, it can be difficult for anyone to make ends meet in today’s economy,” says Jacob Channel, LendingTree senior economist. 

Younger people still working in entry-level positions may not have the cash resources to overcome the financial stressors of inflation, according to Channel. 

But for those that moved home, what did they do? The top two answers were to pay down debt (39%), and to save for a down payment (31%). For others that moved home, they invested (23%), allowed them to take a new job (16%), or to save for a major life event (10%). 

Other high-level takeaways from the report include: 

Click here [1] to view the report in its entirety.