Are Millennials Finally Flying the Coop?
June 21, 2018
More millennials may be ready to leave Mom and Dad’s basement to start their own household. The number of 18- to 34-year-olds living with their parents last year dropped slightly from 2016, according to new data released from the CoStar Group, a commercial data firm.
In 2017, 31.5 percent of that age group was living with their parents, down from 32 percent in 2016. The percentage remains elevated from the historical average of 28 percent. But economists say the downward trend likely will continue as the economy improves.
“There are more individuals in that age cohort who are employed,” Michael Cohen, director of advisory services at CoStar, told CNBC. “We also should see some wage gains in that age range. … That gives me some degree of confidence that we’ll see some more momentum … in [young adults] moving out of Mom’s place.”
Many millennials chose to live with their parents as they built their careers and tried to pay down student debt. The generation carries the majority of the $1.5 trillion in student debt. Also, their wages are lower than their parents’ salaries were when they were in their 20s.
More than a third of workers are millennials, now the largest generation in the labor force, according to the Pew Research Center.
Source: “Millennials Moving Out of Mom and Dad’s Place, Study Shows,” CNBC (June 20, 2018)
