More Young Adults Living With Parents in Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk Than Anywhere in USA

Battered by the economics of the Great Recession, an increasing number of young adults are taking longer to leave home or are returning to life with mom and dad after having previously moved out.  Those are the findings of a new national study, by the US2010 Project.  In reviewing the 100 largest municipal regions in the nation, the study found that Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk was home to the highest percentage of young people living with parents (34 percent).  The region also had one of the lowest percent married (only 29 percent) and one of the highest percent unemployed (8 percent) among 25-29-year-olds.  Its median income was not among the lowest but the cost of living is relatively high because of its proximity to New York City, the report said.  Also making the top ten in the percentage of young adults living back at their parents home, with similar demographics, were New York, Los Angeles, El Paso, Wilkes Barre/Scranton and Miami.

The examination of the 10 metropolitan areas with the highest percentage living with parents revealed several common factors:  high unemployment rates, low marriage rates, low median income and more young adults with a high school education or less and fewer with a college education or more, and a larger share who are either Latino or Asian.

Nationally, the number of young adults ages 20 to 34 who lived with their parents jumped from 17 percent in 1980 to 24percent in 2007-09, the period of the study (and the Great Recession).  As reported in USA Today, the study found that the rise was sharpest among those under 25 – a new high of 43 percent vs. 32 percent in 1980.  The only segment not affected:  young adults with graduate degrees.

The report noted that delays in marriage were a contributing factor in the findings, but the economic impact of the recession was the central driving force behind the numbers.