Nearly two thirds of young adults now living with parents, study finds

Researchers believe so-called ‘Boomerang’ trend is here to stay

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The number of single and childless young adults living at home is rising, new research suggests.

In a trend that has been dubbed the “Boomerang” phenomenon, more Britons in their 20s and early 30s have been found to be moving back into their family home while some have not yet left.

Research conducted by the University of Loughborough found that roughly 3.5 million single young adults are currently living in their family home.

Reasons include a precarious job market, low salaries, high rental fees and sudden life changes, such as breakups.

The study is the first large-scale quantitative research into the trend and found that 71 per cent of young single adults were living with their parents during their early 20s.

Meanwhile, more than half (54 per cent) were living at the parental home in their late 20s.

A third of those in their early 30s were also found to be living at home.

The study also found that those living at home could save up to £120 per week in rental costs, council tax bills and fuel compared to if they were living in a one-bedroom flat.

“Children living at home well into their 20s is not a temporary phenomenon, it’s here to stay,” said Katherine Hill, senior research associate at the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University. 

“A lot of young people will spend most of a decade of their lives living like this,” she told The Guardian.

The study comes after research suggested that young adults who returned to their family homes for lockdown added an average of £2,700 to household bills.

The research, conducted by Barclaycard, included data on 1,000 parents with adult children. 

It revealed that additional costs included extra food and alcohol shopping, increased energy expenditure, and subscription services, such as Netlflix and Amazon Prime.

Last year, the Office for National Statistics said that in the last 20 years, there has been a 46 per cent rise in the number of young people between the ages of 20 and 34 living with their parents.

During this time, average house prices have tripled, rising from £97,000 to £288,000.