Adults Moving Home in Recession; Delaying Marriage, Kids

From the Wall Street Journal | Nov 24, 2009 | By Conor Dougherty

The recession has caused
many adults to move home, shack up with roommates and delay having kids
according to a study to be released today by the Pew Research Center. The report, which draws on Census data as well as a nationwide survey, follows media reports on some of the same phenomena.

"The journey home for Thanksgiving won't be quite so long this year
for many young adults," the Pew Report began. "Instead of traveling
across country or across town, many grown sons and daughters will be
coming to dinner from their old bedroom down the hall, which now
doubles as their recession-era refuge."

There are several reasons for people moving home or in with
roommates. Obviously, many people have lost their jobs and either can't
pay rent or would like to find a more constructive use of their
unemployment checks. At the same time, college admissions have climbed
to the point where even community colleges are turning students away.
And not everyone who moves home is desperate: According to the Pew
Survey, about half of the grown children who lived in their home worked
full or part-time.

Census data show that 7.3% of adults 18-29 were living alone in
2009, from 7.9% in 2007. Similar drops occurred after the 1982 and 2001
recessions, the report said. The proportions were similar across races,
but affected women more than men: The proportion of young women who
lived alone fell to 5.1% from 6.1%, while young men fell two-tenths of
a point to 8.4%.

Pew supplemented the Census data with a survey in which 13% of
parents with grown children said one of their adult sons or daughters
has moved back home in the past year.

The survey also showed:

• One-in-ten adults ages 18 to 35 (10%) say the poor economy has forced them to move back in with mom and dad.


• 12% said they moved in with a roommate.


• 15% of adults younger than 35 said they had postponed getting married because of the recession.


• 14% said they have delayed adding to their own homes by having a baby.