A Majority of Young Adults Live With Their Parents – Highest Percentage Since Great Depression Era

The coronavirus outbreak has pushed millions of Americans, especially young adults, to move in with family members. The share of 18- to 29-year-olds living with their parents has now become a majority - the first time that has occurred since the Great Depression era, according to a new analysis of national data by the Pew Research Center.

In July, 52% of young adults resided with one or both of their parents, up from 47% in February, according to the analysis of monthly U.S. Census Bureau data. Although state-by-state data was not available from the latest study, it’s likely Connecticut is near the top of the list, given previous analysis.

Back in January, a report from zippa.com used the Census’ American Community Survey to measure which states had the highest percentage of 18-34-year-olds who still called their parents house home. And Connecticut came in at number two.  The top five were New Jersey (46.4%), Connecticut (41.1%), New York (39.8%), Florida (38.4%) and Maryland (38.3%).  The top five states where adult children were least likely to live with their parents, North Dakota ranked at the top followed by South Dakota, Wyoming, Iowa, and Nebraska.

In the new Pew review of U.S. Census data nationwide, the number living with parents grew to 26.6 million, an increase of 2.6 million from February. 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.

About one-in-ten young adults (9%) say they relocated temporarily or permanently due to the coronavirus outbreak, and about the same share (10%) had somebody move into their household. Among all adults who moved due to the pandemic, 23% said the most important reason was because their college campus had closed, and 18% said it was due to job loss or other financial reasons.

The share of young adults living with their parents is higher than in any previous measurement (based on current surveys and decennial censuses). Before 2020, the highest measured value was in the 1940 census at the end of the Great Depression, when 48% of young adults lived with their parents. The peak may have been higher during the worst of the Great Depression in the 1930s, but there is no data for that period, Pew reported.

The monthly share of young adults living with parents has been above 50% since April of this year, reaching and maintaining this level for the first time since data on young adults’ living arrangements became available in 1976.

The pattern in the latest data is consistent with employment losses since February, according to Pew. The youngest adults have been more likely than other age groups to lose their jobs or take a pay cut. The share of 16- to 24-year-olds who are neither enrolled in school nor employed more than doubled from February (11%) to June (28%) due to the pandemic and consequent economic downturn.

The Northeast retained its status as the region of the country where the highest share of young adults live with parents (57%).