Even though the unemployment rate is down, and they’re making more money, fewer millennials are living alone, and rather moving back home or in with a roommate.
Millennials are enjoying the fruits of the improved economy. Their unemployment rate is down, more of them are getting full-time jobs and their wages have slightly improved.
Still, many of them are living with mom and dad, according to a study by Pew Research Center.
The study used data from the U.S. Census Bureau data that shows that millennials are less likely to be living on their own today than they were during the recession years.
While the number of millennials (people ages 18 to 34) has increased by almost 3 million since 2007, the number of them living independently of their families hasn’t followed suit.
Around 42.2 million millennials headed their own households during the first four months of 2015, compared with around 42.7 million in 2007.
Between 2010 and April 2015, the percentage of young adults living in their own place dipped from 69% to 67%.
However, during the same period, the share of 18- to 34-year-olds living with their parents increased from 24% to 26%.
The Pew analysis defined living independently as heading one’s own household or living in a household headed by a spouse, unmarried partner or other non-relative adult. It excluded 18- to 24-year-olds going to college full-time.
Just because young adults are living at home doesn’t mean they aren’t working.
The unemployment rate among this age group fell to 7.7% in the first third of 2015, a sizable improvement from the 12.4% who were out of work in 2010 but still above the 6.2% unemployment rate in 2007 prior to the recession.
More millennials have full-time jobs, and their median weekly wages are up to $574, compared with a low of $547 in 2012.
Many young adults who aren’t living with their parents are “doubling up” with a roommate to reduce costs.
Through April of 2015, 48% of millennials were living with an adult who is not a spouse or in-live partner, up slightly from 2010.
Fewer young people living on their own means decreased demand for housing and new residential construction. As a result, they aren’t purchasing furniture or ordering cable and Internet, things associated with having your own place.
One positive result of the recession is that it drove more young adults back to school. By 2012, 37% of Millennials were in college, up from 34% in 2007.
