Young people struggle to leave the nest of childhood. A decline in economic opportunities as they become adults is a big factor.
In modern history, living with parents has overtaken other living arrangements for 18-34-year-olds.
In 2014, 32.1 % of young adults lived in their parents’ homes, edging out all other living arrangements, including marriage or cohabitation, living alone, or living as single parents or with roommates.
Along the way, the median age of first marriage has risen steadily, from a 1956 low of 20 for women and 22 for men to 27 for women and 29 for men in 2014.
“For the first time, instead, what we see is they’re not focused on family and forming a household.” Rather, they are more likely to be tending to studies and work, hoping to earn and save enough to move out on their own.
Reasons why young people prefer living with parents to partner
1. Decline in economic opportunities
Economic hardship becomes a push factor to leave home as they find employment as the cost of living has escalated and wages have stagnated, young people face mounting student debt and daunting barriers to renting or owning a home, creating obstacles to cohabitation and marriage.
The trend is led by young men, whose fortunes have been declining since the 1960s. While they have always lived with their parents in greater numbers than young women, this setup became the dominant living arrangement for them in 2009. In 2014 35 % of young men lived with parents, while only 28 % lived with a spouse or partner (for young women, the percentages are flipped: 29 and 35, respectively).
2. Unemployment
Unemployed young men are more likely to live with their parents than those with jobs, and employment among young men has dropped significantly in recent decades.
Now it’s more likely that both generations are economically insecure and they’re taking care of each other.
Most young in Kenya argue that
“I moved in with my parents because I don’t really have to pay rent and I get free meals’’
3. Dependence
Young women really don’t want to be dependent on a man they’re going to marry, and also they think they might have a better selection if they wait until their careers are launched, he said. A large number of men say they want a wife who is a major financial contributor to the household.
Something like, I have a full-time job, I should be able to live on my own, Ideally living with mothers wouldn’t be the case, but realistically this is the young people’s best option.
The study found that people with lower education levels are more likely to be living with their parents rather than with romantic partners, while more highly educated young people are more likely to live with romantic partners.
4. Marriage
Marriage has declined faster for people with low levels of education, and that has a lot to do with their ability to attain the kind of economic security to make them feel able to settle down and be excited to do so.
For them, cohabitation is not necessarily a one-way street, he said – it may be beneficial to the parents too, especially as middle-aged people are less likely to own their homes now than 20 or 30 years ago.
The trend towards moving back in with parents, which predates the 2009 recession, has significant economic and demographic implications.
People who delay starting families could face fertility challenges down the road, he said. And in the near term, The spending that goes on in the formation of a household – the furniture purchases, the appliance purchases, the cable subscriptions, that isn’t happening.
By Justinah Kathambi