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PRINCETON, N.J. — As major life events like marriage continue to occur later in life, more young adults are also living at home with their parents, according to a poll released Thursday.
Thirty-nine percent of adults ages 18-34 reported they were currently living with their parents in a Gallup Poll. Just over half of 18- to 23-year-olds were living with their parents (51 percent) as well as 14 percent of people ages 24-34.
Researchers interviewed adults under the age of 35 for the poll. They wrote that finding a separate place to live is an important milestone for adults to establish independence from their parents, but that roadblocks are causing them to live at home longer.
They found that people who are beyond college age, ages 24-34, who live at home, are much less likely to be married, less likely to be working full-time and less likely to have graduated from college.
The most important predictor for whether someone was still living at home or not was his or her marriage status, researchers wrote. Of people who were living at home, 75 percent have never been married and are still single.
Divorce did not appear to drive people to move back in with their parents, researchers wrote.
Employment also played a large role in where someone lived. Fifty percent of people living at home were employed full-time, compared with 67 percent of people the same age who lived somewhere else.
Researchers found that 32.8 percent of people living at home were underemployed, which is defined as being when someone wants to work full-time but is unable to find a full-time position.
