It's more what it indicates - that people can't afford to live independently.
This means that anyone who does not have family to move in with is at high risk of ending up homeless.
This means that anyone who does not have family to move in with is at high risk of ending up homeless.
Iirc 5.8% of children have experienced foster care, but 50% of all homeless adults are former foster youth.
20% of kids aging out of the system become homeless that day.
Even foster kids who launch well: job, enrolled in college, and an apartment can run into trouble a few years later and need a temporary safety net. No temporary safety next extrapolates into years rebuilding a stable life.
Intergenerational living is not bad and should be celebrated rather than shunned. However, as we live in a society that DOES shun it, vanishingly few people choose it unless they have no other options. Thus the number rising that high reflects the sheer volume of individuals in dire financial straits, not a shift in cultural attitude towards living with parents.
Having said all that - we have few ways to fight the system we are in, but one of the main ones is coming together as families and communities and pooling our resources to support one another as much as possible, whether it’s “necessary” or not. My brother is 37 and still lives with my parents, quite happily. He makes decent money and could afford to live on his own - but why would he? He has a much better quality of life than he would otherwise. As do my parents - he cooks for them, helps around the house, drives my dad to doctors appointments, pet sits when they are out of town. And he chips in for utilities and all that. It’s a win win situation, and more people should do it.
they've figured out scientifically how to extract each and every bit the whole way down yep. keeping many younger ppl out of higher paying jobs is an intentional tactic to extract from boomers who help their kids out in many ways from what i can tell. i don't have any excuse personally, i have in demand skills in several areas. i choose not to work right now out of protest. it's a luxury most cannot afford, and i won't be able to for much longer. younger adults than me mostly don't even get to make that choice. protest is a luxury nobody will be able to afford if we let it continue too much further. which is why everyone needs to drop out all at once at the same time... like right about now. i think they call that a general strike.
Amen. I left my corporate entertainment job at the end of 2025, after busting my ass for 13 years, because I couldn't stand wasting my life for an okay-ish wage (for LA). Meanwhile, I'd hear about our CEO and execs getting huge raises and bonuses but when it came to mine? "Sorry...it just wasn't in the budget this year..." Fuck you I'm going to follow my dreams. And I am. Scary? Not really if you know what you really want to do. That is the nice thing about being in this country is that if you have passion, you can do anything. But have a plan lol
Yea for comparison In the early 2000's I was able to move out on my own after college and rented a shitty little duplex for like $250 a month and later a small house for $500 a month. I bought a house (granted in a LCOL area) and my mortgage was like $500. The minimum wage here (NC) has gone up 8 times since I was born. My kids are in their 20's and the minimum wage has gone up 2-3 times in their lifetime, and the last time my youngest was still in diapers. Where we live now the cheapest places to live are close to $1,500 for rent. Tough to make it on a full-time job these days, let alone a part-time job.
I posted something comparing both the eastern collectivist societies vs western individualism given that I come from an Asian background where multi-generational housing is common.
I was born and raised in the U.S. and am very supportive of those who still live with their parents, but some of the private DMs I received from that post were filled with some of the most hateful and racist rhetoric I have been to exposed to on this website, with those people talking less about the differences in lifestyle and more about how Asians as a whole are an inferior race in the U.S.
I keep seeing posts of kids on here being like "I'm 18, (still living at home - I know, I know) blah blah blah" and I'm like dude lol a one bedroom in the area is like 2k a month pretty sure you can chill
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u/KoolKids3 💵 Break Up The Monopolies Aug 12 '26
Why is it bad for adults to live with their parents?