29% of U.S. Adults Under 35 Still Live With Parents — Marriage Key To Moving Out

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By USDR

A new survey shows that 29% of U.S. adults under age 35 are living at home with their parents, while 51% of those between 18 and 23 are living at home.

In addition, 14% of Americans between the ages 24 and 34 — a time when most people are establishing their independence — are also still living at home with mom and dad.

The Gallup survey found that some of the most likely reasons for a person under 35 to still reside with his parents are being single, unemployed or underemployed, and not having graduated from college.

In the poll, the surveyors asked, “Just in terms of your current circumstances, are you currently living at home with your parents, or not?” For the adults under age 35, 29% said yes, they were living with their parents; for the 18 to 23 year olds, 51% said yes; and for the 24 to 34 year olds, 14% said yes.

“Being married is, by a large margin, the most important predictor of whether individuals between the ages of 24 and 34 live with their parents or have their own place,” said Gallup. “The vast majority of young adults living at home, 75%, are single and have never married, twice the rate among those of the same ages who are living on their own.”

29% of U.S. Adults Under Age 35 Still Live at Home With Mom and Dad — Marriage Key To Moving Out
The survey found that for those adults ages 24 to 34 who are living at home with their parents, 75% of them were “single/never married.” Only 12% were married. Another 6% were in a “domestic partnership” and 7% were “divorced/separated.”

As for education and living with mom and dad, the survey found that “those with higher educational attainment are more likely to have their own place to live, and those with less formal education are mroe likely to be living at home.”

For those adults ages 24 to 34 who were still living at home with their parents, 41% had an education level of high school or less. 31% had “some college” and 28% had a college degree.

While Gallup noted a weak economy and education level as affecting whether adults (ages 24-34) still might live at home, the polling group said, “The biggest impetus for leaving home seems to be marriage, easily the strongest predictor of one’s living arrangement among those between the ages of 24 and 34. This indicates that if the marriage rate increases in the future, the percentage living with their parents may decline.”

In the poll, surveyors conducted telephone interviews between Aug-7 and Dec. 29, 2013 of 3,445 adults, ages 18-34, in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.