Five Benefits to Moving in With Your Parents

More young people are living with their parents than ever

Young adults have been moving back in with their parents since forever. There are a variety of reasons for this — such as divorce, underemployment, or unemployment.

But it wasn’t always like this.

How do I know, you ask? Well, I was there. I was a teenager, but we had a Civics class (remember Civics?) where we figured out how much it cost to live. It was a little over $400.00 a month. That was a decent living wage in the 70s before all hell broke loose; apartment, car, and even great clothes and shoes, if I could get them on sale. If I could earn that I knew I’d be rich!

And you could get it, starting out…many young adults (81%) lived in old rickety houses, and apartments with cold, rusty water…but they were on their own. We helped an eighteen-year-old friend move into a decent place for $125 a month. In 1980. Today, $125 is worth $394. What apartment are you going to get with that? An equivalent apartment today, depending on where you live, would cost two or three times that — or more.

Today more young adults are living at home with their parents

The Pew Research Center reports that 52% of adults 18 to 29 are now living at home with their parents, which is the highest level since the Great Depression (1929–1933). That was exacerbated by a stock market crash and the 1930s Dust Bowl.

Now young adults are returning home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s also harder to establish a household now anyway. Wages did not grow along with the economy over the last 30 years. 47% of young adults already lived with their parents before the coronavirus. But the pandemic put an accelerant on the process. Since January 2020:

The number and share of young adults living with their parents grew across the board for all major racial and ethnic groups, men and women, and metropolitan and rural residents, as well as in all four main census regions. Growth was sharpest for the youngest adults (ages 18 to 24) and for White young adults.

It’s not reasonable to blame the young. They have it harder than the older generation ever did.

Trent Hamm of The Simple Dollar explains it quite clearly. He writes;

The minimum wage in the United States has gone up 353% since 1970, and average incomes have gone up approximately 500%. In that same span, however, the cost of basic household goods has gone up 482%, the cost of a four year education has gone up 994%, and the cost of an average home has gone up 917%.

He wrote this in 2011. It’s even worse now.

Of course, this depends on where you live. Here in San Diego, the median house price just leaped up to $732K. But the numbers of inflation hold across the country.

The average price per square foot for an existing single-family home in California last month was $315 — $28 more than in August 2019.

If prices stayed steady and comparable to the 1970s, young adults would have been able to buy a home for under $100,000. To summarize, the older generation (Boomers and older) cannot compare their financial and real estate ownership successes to the newer generation.

Saturday Night Live broadcast a funny, sarcastic skit in January 2019 called Millennial Millions. Cast member Melanie sang a song about the unfairness of it all:

“They played all the music and they did all the drugs then they had all the sex then they all went to college and they got all the jobs they made all the money they bought all the houses and they won’t ever die! Yeah, the Boomers!”

There are some serious truths embedded in the humor.

But all is not lost. If you have the opportunity, moving in with your parents can help you get ahead.

You can eliminate your expenses

How wonderful! You don’t have to have utility bills with your name on it. Just help out at mom and dad’s — because you are using some water, gas, and electricity. The “You won’t even know I’m here” defense won’t fly. Get the deposit(s) back and hand it over.

Now that you’re back home, your parent(s) will buy food and toiletries in bulk again. Good memories!

Just remember, this is their house. They’re helping you out. Be considerate and follow the rules. If they say (like they always did) — no eating in the bedroom…then don't eat in the bedroom. Got it?

You can save money

Your parents have food, shelter, and transportation. You might even be able to get rid of your car. There’s always another one later. Improve your credit rating. Do a financial analysis. It’s easy if you don’t have a job but it’s still useful. When you get a job you can put your plan in action right away. Plan for when you do leave, because you will.

In the meantime, you can put much of your salary into a savings account. It feels good, I promise.

You’ll be able to leave in style.

You can use this time to evaluate your futures wants and needs

You’re fortunate to have this opportunity. Did you have a setback? Most of us have. This is the time to evaluate what went wrong. Did your marriage fail? See if counseling is available so you don’t repeat your experience. It’s difficult to find someone who makes you happy when you don’t even know what makes you happy.

Of course, your job could have dissolved during this crisis. That wasn’t something you could control. Thousands of businesses are gone and will never return.

So now, you have to determine what’s next.

You can go to school or reconnect with a passion

Improve yourself.

Did you want to write? Do it. Draw? Do it. Take online classes about something you’ve always wanted to explore. You’ll probably never have this opportunity again. Explore what makes you fulfilled. Even more importantly, what doesn’t. The advantage of having a home base is phenomenal. You have a nest; a loving one. Don’t squander it.

You can reconnect with family members

They are only here for a time. Make the most of it.

There is a wisdom that some older people have gained through time. Ask them for their insights. They won’t be here forever. My dad has been gone for some time now. I can’t tell you how many times I say to myself, “I wonder what Dad would think about this unholy mess?” I think he would’ve had a fit.

But I’ll never know.

More young adults are moving in with their parents for now. But for most, it’s temporary.

Do you know how to thank you parent(s)? Be happy. That’s the biggest gift you can give them. They understand what you’re going through — and sometimes, you will be in a funk. So many goals and dreams have been deferred, and some have even been canceled forever.

But it’s difficult to live with someone who’s moody and depressed all the time. Be a good person to be around. Make a joke now and then. Laugh at theirs.

Because I can tell you this with authority; parents are happier when their children are.