Overview
- Tuesday coverage summarized Federal Reserve data showing 49% of adults under 30 lived with a parent last year, a 12-point rise since 2019.
- Realtor.com estimated 25.2 million adults under 35 lived at home in 2025, meaning about one in three in that age group shared a household with a parent.
- Housing costs are a core barrier: the National Association of Realtors reported a May median existing-home price near $429,300 and average rents are about 30% higher than five years ago.
- Many of the young adults living with parents are employed and some hold college degrees, which experts say points to limited affordable supply rather than joblessness as the main obstacle to independence; realtors and state programs are promoting counseling, down-payment help and targeted financing as routes to ownership.
- Longer term, Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies says household growth has slowed and may remain weak, a trend that could reduce starter-home turnover and slow wealth building for younger cohorts even as some families use co-residence to save for future home purchases.