Kids are moving back home en masse

The Future. Gen Z isn’t ashamed to admit they live at home. Instead, it’s a smart move to get off the hamster wheel of paying astronomical rents that amount to throwing money down the drain. The shift in thinking may eventually lead to a rise in multi-generational households… which is already normal around the world.

Back to the twin bed
A Harris Poll found living at home is now considered a pragmatic choice to save money and get a financial head start. 

• Nearly 90% of respondents say people shouldn’t be judged for the move.
• 41% of respondents said they did it specifically to save money because jumping into the rat race of sky-high rents, living expenses, and student debt just wasn’t worth it.
• Things are so bad, in fact, that three-fourths of respondents believe navigating those factors will keep them from ever being financially successful.

Currently, about 45% of Americans aged 18 to 29 live with their families. Bloomberg notes that’s approximately the same amount who did back in the 1940s — “a time when women were more likely to remain at home until marriage and men too were lingering on family farms in the aftermath of the Great Depression.”

Jason Dorsey, president of The Center for Generational Kinetics, believes Gen Z may be undergoing its own depression that’s turning into “financial nihilism.” That could affect higher education, investment, and family planning decisions for years to come.