A Record Share of Young American Women Are Living With Family

[Purveyor]

A record share of young women in the U.S. lived at home last year and the economy had little do with it.

Some 36.4 percent of women age 18 to 34 lived with their parents or relatives in 2014, the highest since records began in 1940, according to a report released Wednesday by Pew Research Center in Washington. While the share of young men was even greater at 42.8 percent, it wasn't quite as high as it was some 75 years ago.



"The result is a striking U-shaped curve for young women – and young men – indicating a return to the past, statistically speaking," Richard Fry, senior researcher at the Pew Research Center, wrote in the report. But "the reasons that more women today are living with mom and dad are far different."

The increase is puzzling considering the improved state of the economy and an improving job market that has helped more young people earn enough to venture out on their own. Here are some of the longer term forces that could be at play:

Young people are opting for more education

College enrollment rates for both full- and part-time students have generally increased over the past couple decades, and some students may be trying to offset stiff tuition costs by bunking with their parents. Among millennials in college or graduate school, 14 percent live in "non-institutional group quarters," mostly dorms, while 41 percent live with their parents, according to research published last year by real-estate website Trulia.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-11/a-record-share-of-young-american-women-are-living-with-family

[Bucky]

1. That's insane! That's a country with an affordable housing crisis

I we could get a little deflation in the housing market, it would be a HUGE boost to our jobs market and to our savings rates. Economic efficiency is killing this country.

[jeff47]

2. We got deflation in the housing market. It was the 2008 recession.

Remember, somebody owns that house you want to deflate, and has a mortgage based on the current market value.

[Bucky]

8. And for a couple of years rent was less unaffordable. But the housing crisis is back.

Most people spend 40-50% of their income on housing costs. That high a drain on expendable income is a stranglehold on consumer spending. It's sucking up way way too much capital, killing US savings rates, and thus killing jobs. It also jeopardizes the fundamental human right to have a home. We have millions of families in crowded & substandard housing, many more who are homeless, and large numbers of abandoned and vacant housing in America. That's a real market inefficiency and demonstrative of distorted housing costs in our national economy.

Elizabeth Warren has a great speech on YouTube about how the US middle class is seeing most of its expenses shift from variable costs (clothing, dining out, consumer goods) to fixed costs (food, shelter, healthcare), which is why families making the same amount of money (as adjusted for inflation) as families a year ago are still feeling more pinched, less control, and more desperate than their parents did. Bankers, real estate developers, HMOs, credit card companies, and agro-businesses are sucking our wallets dry from economic "wiggle room."

Collectively, they're making the American dream less affordable.

[jeff47]

9. How 'bout instead of ripping down finances of people who already own houses

we pay more money to workers so that they can afford housing?

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

47. Well at least some of that is on the shoulders of douchebags who...

stubbornly insist on living in a couple of the most expensive cities on earth because they like the "vibe" or something.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

29. I got deflated.

I bought at 103k, I peaked with an appraisal of 125k or thereabouts, and currently I'm sitting on an appraisal of 86k or so. I'm already at about a 15-20% loss from where I bought 16 years ago, I'd rather not deflate any farther.

[Bucky]

45. I think you miss my point. If the cost were significantly lower where else would you spend the cash?

So, yes, you lost some speculative money. I know that's got to suck. But that's not my point. Forgive me if this comes off as insensitive. I'm discussing about how money could more effectively circulate through the economy to provide for a better standard of living for our people, not how people ought to be screwed out of their investments.

You've lost investment money, but that's a cost that won't harm you until you sell the home--ideally not something people do frequently. But had that home cost less, then you would have incurred a lower debt, resulting in less costly mortgage payments, and then you would have more money to spend in sectors of the economy that are more productive of downstream employment. With smaller (in aggregate) loans being issued (and consequently higher savings rates) then there'd also be more available cash in banks for loans for new businesses, thus having a softening effect (albeit just one among several factors) on interest rates.

What I'm saying is that the housing sector, when it's as inflated as it is in our country, is a massive liquidity drain on the overall economy. It's not an efficient job creator like goods and services that draw from variable costs from consumers' budgets.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

49. Speculative money? I bought a house to live in.

So I wouldn't be out on the street. How is that 'speculative money'? Hell, my mortgage payments are below the cost of rent for some one bedroom apartments in town. That's not 'speculation'. I bought 16 years ago BEFORE the all of the inflation kicked in.

And simply rebuilding my home from scratch would cost more than 100k. It's not overinflated.

Yes, there are parts of the country with overinflated housing markets. I'm not in one of them, I'm in flyover territory.

And housing is ownership, not rental - I'm not draining money away every month that just goes to make some absentee landlord hedge fund richer.

[Bucky]

51. It's speculative in that it's an investment. Cost fluctuates regardless of your quality of life

Like you pointed out, the price has up and down quite a bit on your house in ways that hardly reflected the actual economic utility that your family gets from it. Housing, as a "fixed" cost, doesn't have an earned price the way variable cost items do. As you point out, the work you might put into building a house wouldn't be directly reflected in the price or value that the house would yield. In economic terms, that's the opportunity cost of "real property," as opposed to most consumer goods, which are "chattel property." With chattel items, which generally do create more work per-dollar than real property, prices are more likely to reflect actual consumer utility.

From your description, I agree that your home's value seems not to be inflated, but I assure you that both in rental and property mortgage costs, housing costs take up a lot larger percentage of annual income than they did two generations ago. Homes are "homier" than they were in the 60s. In fact, per capita square footage is lower now than it was from when the Boomer generation entered the housing market. And yet housing takes up more income than it used to. How is that NOT a matter of inflation?

[Recursion]

3. That's pretty common in the rest of the world, even Europe

Most of my European and Asian friends find America's tendency to move out kind of weird and wasteful.

[pnwmom]

13. Exactly. My husband has European relatives and they think the idea

that young people should be moving out at 18 is ridiculous (unless they're living away at a college.)

We do, too, actually.

[former9thward]

4. The economy has everything to do with it.

If you are in some low paid service job you can't afford to live on your own. Young people who are normal want to live apart from their parents.

[AOR]

7. The idea that the multigenerational housing arrangements that some choose...

has something to do with one "being normal" or "abnormal" is an arrogant, elitist, insulting, and ignorant construct.

[former9thward]

18. No, its reality.

Some don't want to face it.

[AOR]

27. Your reality...

an ignorant elitist caricature you have created in your mind after decades of "American Dream" propaganda and American consumer culture horseshit being pounded into your head.

These are your exact words...

"Young people who are normal want to live apart from their parents."

Who the fuck are you to define these young people as abnormal ? A traveling Dr.Phil maybe ? A most arrogant and ignorant statement with absolutely no basis in "reality" whatsoever besides in your own arrogant entirely subjective cultural mindset. Your statement demonizes and stigmatizes millions of young people in which you haven't a clue whatsoever of their "normalcy." Arrogance and intolerance of differing life views doesn't even begin to describe the ignorance displayed in your post. Own it.

[former9thward]

44. Your reality.

No one else.

[AOR]

57. Lol...this is not about me...

this is about the arrogant ignorance displayed in your post. The gentrified, artificially constructed, "societal norms" that have been drilled into your head by ruling class culture that provides the ignorance that makes one stigmatize, ostracize, and demonize the living arrangements of others as "abnormal" without a shed of evidence to back up such claims

The curiosity of where such arrogance and ignorance was coming from directed me to some of your posting history and sure enough it became crystal clear. The defense of the libertarian mindset and the despicable red-baiting on many threads in full glory. Being a "member of labor union" does not make one any less of a reactionary or an individualist social scab. In fact, that is much of the problem with bourgeois labor unions. That's neither here nor there of course in regards to the blatant ignorance in your initial post.

Only After The Last Tree Has Been Cut Down,
Only after The Last River Has Been Poisoned,
Only after The Last Fish Has Been Caught,
Only Then Will You Find That Money Cannot Be Eaten.

- Cree Prophecy

[pintobean]

52. I agree with you

ignorant elitist caricature

A lot of it is, my generation aren't the hard ass parents that the previous generation was. A lot of our kids are comfortable living with us. It just makes good social and economic sense.

[AOR]

58. Thanks...not sure if were on the same page politically....

but calling out this kind of insidious ostrification is a must in building solidarity across generation divides. Basement jokes might have some humor as one-liners but they are also a symptom of a fundamentally sick society of capitalist culture.

[pintobean]

59. Yeah, I don't see it as something political.

Most things aren't political. I see it as a matter of respect for people who make their own choices.
The basement jokes are usually about a person's social skills, not age.

[pnwmom]

14. "young people who are normal"? You are imposing your own cultural beliefs

on everyone else. And in effect you're calling most young people in the world "abnormal."

[former9thward]

17. I don't live "in the world".

Maybe you do. I live in the U.S. and young people don't want to live with their parents. I don't have the cultural belief that men should oppress women. Probably billions "in the world" have the opposite belief as the result of their "culture". Are you ok with that "culture"? Do you want to impose your cultural beliefs on them? Or are you ok with that culture?

[pnwmom]

19. I don't support oppression of women anywhere. Families choosing to live together

isn't about oppression or even poverty.

Countries like Sweden and Norway have rates of young adults living with their parents that are similar to ours.

[former9thward]

20. I know you wish to defend this economy to the end.

So I understand your post.

[pnwmom]

21. I don't think you're accounting for the fact that our large immigrant community

includes people from many cultures who are accustomed to generations living together.

This isn't the baby boom of the 1950's, with teenagers getting married and going off on their own. This is a return to a much more common situation, worldwide, of young adults living in their family homes till marriage, or even beyond.

Not every culture stresses personal independence the way the US W.A.S.P. culture does.

[AOR]

24. The elitist ignorance displayed in the post you made in question...

hasn't a single fucking thing to do with the economy or oppression of woman.

[treestar]

53. Elitist ignorance

is not knowing that in a lot of areas of the world, people live home longer, and some even after they are married. It is cultural. And cultures change.

[AOR]

55. Yes...

and the arrogant, ignorant, individualist American consumer culture needs to change. Get it ? Communal and multigenerational living arrangements have been part of human social relations before the dawn of modern civilization. Calling that abnormal is elitist ignorance. People are people. The words "parents" are irrelevant. Age is irrelevant. The ideas of abandoning and disregarding everyone and everything around you to "make your own way" are the ideas of individualist social scabs and ruling class conformity. It runs deep through all human social relations.

[treestar]

25. I think you could be right for the baby boomer generation

there were a lot of people at home and your parents would not let you have overnight guests of the opposite sex. They wouldn't let you smoke pot, etc.

Parents today may not be that way - may even let a boyfriend/girlfriend live there too, and allow more free behavior.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

48. Sure, if you live in a Chuck Berry song

I think most people's circumstances, including most young people's are a little more nuanced.

I think changing attitudes about premarital sex have a lot more to do with it. My elderly mother told me she left home against her parent's wishes because she was fed-up with sex being a clandestine military operation.

If you have no irreconcilable differences with your parents, why not stay home?

Hell, it comes around. My parents now live with me.

[MisterP]

5. well, the important thing is that the McMansion class has money for a second wine cellar

or a third, if they flip enough houses!

[kiva]

6. It's the economy, but it's also prioritizing.

When I and my friends moved out on our own for the first time in the 1970s, most of us had almost nothing - I had a waterbed mattress and no frame (note to others, not a great idea) and a couple of chairs. Most of us had stereos, something to sit on (often beanbag chairs) and a mattress...but to us it was important to have our own space and worth it to give up many things to have it.

I know friends whose children - twenties and thirties - still live with parents, and most could afford to move out in such a bare bones fashion but don't want to give up a middle-class lifestyle...and their parents support that choice.

For them, it's choosing what is important and their choice is different from the ones many of my generation made.

[lumberjack_jeff]

10. I don't get it. Why is this about young women?

The lines are absolutely parallel, with more men experiencing the problem than women at every point in the displayed history.

As best I can tell, the concern for young women is that they're taking advantage of postgraduate education, unlike men, who simply can't find work.

[pnwmom]

22. Part of it is that they get married at younger ages than men, and marriage is often

the impetus for leaving the nest. People are getting married later ,so they leave the family home later. But women do this at younger ages than men.

[The2ndWheel]

11. If family members want to help each other out, why is that bad?

[olddots]

12. dear 2nd. wheel

its not about wanting or not wanting to help them out , its about a very sad state of affairs brought on by ignorant greed .

[pnwmom]

15. Why are multiple generation families "a very sad state of affairs"?

In most of the world that's the usual arrangement. Adult children live with their parents at least till marriage -- and often beyond.

[alarimer]

16. I firmly believe that living independently is a very important part of growing up.

It is incredibly important, especially for women, to learn that they do not have to be dependent on anyone, either their parents or a partner. Without learning those skills (budgeting, etc.), you are great risk of being left high and dry when that guy you thought you could count on dumps you for someone else.

Never, ever put all your eggs in one (financial) basket. Learn to take care of yourself first and then you can tell the jerk to go to hell. Because it will happen, I guarantee it.

The other thing is privacy. Living with other people drives me bonkers for that reason. I crave alone time and privacy. I think those things are important and lacking when you live on top of each other all the time.

[smirkymonkey]

26. Thread winner!

I think learning how to be independent is of primary importance. Both sexes need to learn how to manage their own money, pay bills on time, clean, cook, do laundry, take out the trash, etc. All the things that are part of being an adult. I would never date someone who couldn't completely survive on their own before coupling up.

I also need a huge amount of private time and at this point i am not sure I could even live with someone unless we each had our own private spaces in the same dwelling.

[alarimer]

60. And maybe it is an American thing to want to be independent.

I don't know. I'm sure there are cultural differences even within the US in this regard.

And some differences would be difficult if not impossible for me to bridge. There are plenty of cultures worldwide that see women as being essentially property of the man and it is difficult for anyone to buck that system. And not ones I could willingly join myself to.

But I do see this trend of young people living for extended periods with their parents as more of a setback than anything else. I'm sure much of it has to do with lack of good paying jobs, massive educational debt, and the high cost of housing in many places. To me, that is an indication of the shrinking middle class.

[BlueJazz]

34. It can be hard to find someone who fits your shape in the puzzle. I think those of us who ..

...actually LIKE to be alone...sometimes...find we're the outcasts. (?)
(don't you want to spend every second with me?.....ah, well, not EVERY second)

[Octafish]

23. Let's see...

Average rent, 1BR apt, city center: $1,109.29

Gross pay, minimum wage, 4 weeks @ 40 hours/week, before taxes: $1,160

Difference, for food, clothing, transportation, an ocassional python boot: $50.71

SOURCE: http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=United+States

[Skittles]

28. that "not ready to leave" is probably bullshit

more likely it is UNABLE TO LEAVE

[cherokeeprogressive]

30. I couldn't wait to get out. Neither could any of my friends.

Being 19 and working for GM helped.

[Skittles]

32. I was 18 and enlisted in the military

[cherokeeprogressive]

33. Yeah I was actually disappointed you didn't post the picture in the "Fall In!" thread.

Yes indeed. It's one of my favorite pictures.

[XemaSab]

36. I moved across the state twice

Only to get laid off after a year twice.

The second time I didn't bring all my stuff, but I still spent a lot of money moving.

This makes the prospect of moving 400 miles away for work much less appealing.

[liberal_at_heart]

31. Both rent and college are completely unaffordable. That is why young people are living with

their parents. My 20 year old daughter would love to be living on her own right now. There is no way she would be able to afford it.

[cherokeeprogressive]

35. Beg to differ...

My 24 year old Son makes barely more than minimum wage at Disneyland and shares a bitchin' house with two other kids his age in Long Beach right off Second Street. Drives a pretty nice car too.

[liberal_at_heart]

37. try doing that on the West Coast. Doesn't work.

My daughter and her boyfriend tried living with other people this summer. They had to room with 3 other people plus the two of them in order to be able to afford the place, and it was not a pleasant experience living with that many people. She is back at home until the two of them can afford a place together which may be a while. He is majoring in finance so he may be able to get a job with a high enough pay to get them a place, maybe. They are still waiting to see how it goes this next summer. Oh, and I just love the whole I got mine attitude. Just because it is working for your son in Florida doesn't mean it will work for others in other places.

[senseandsensibility]

39. Long Beach is the west coast

So is Disneyland.

[liberal_at_heart]

40. Well I'm glad it is working out for your son. It is not working out for millions of others.

We need rent prices to come down, college costs to come down, and wages to go up. I gave my daughter $40 to go Value Village today and she was ecstatic. I'm glad I could help her out with some clothes. I wish I could help her out with other expenses as well. Letting her live with me and her father and keeping her on our health insurance, and buying groceries is about the biggest help I can give her right now. I am hoping once she gets through college she will be able to find a job with decent wages, but wages have been stagnant for so long I'm not that optimistic about it.

[senseandsensibility]

41. My son?

I didn't post that. Just chiming in on the geographical point.

[liberal_at_heart]

42. sorry I thought you were the poster that responded to me. My daughter and I live in WA.

It is very expensive to live in WA. We even moved up north to get away from the more expensive counties and it is still too expensive.

[cherokeeprogressive]

43. I'm talking about the Long Beach that's in Los Angeles County.

[flamingdem]

38. I lived cheap in the late 70s at one time $85 for a room then $400 an apt. in NYC

Those indeed were the days. I saved money because interest rates were so high. Today I'd have to live at home or have several roomates.

I confirm that ALL we wanted to do was get out of the home seen as boring at the time. Many graduated early from high school to do so.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

50. I remember the days when savings accounts paid more than 5% APR.

THAT encouraged saving.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

46. I stayed with my parents till I could afford a home

and it was their idea, it was probably the best financial decision I ever made.

[muriel_volestrangler]

54. Crappy graph from Bloomberg - the 4 years from 2010 to 2014 take up the space of a decade elsewhere

which gives a misleading idea of what has happened recently. And Bloomberg does it again in another graph.

Here's the real graph, before the Bloomberg distortion:



http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/11/record-share-of-young-women-are-living-with-their-parents-relatives/

[NaturalHigh]

56. What's wrong with that?

Frankly, I want my kids to live with us for a while after they get out of college.