A Federal Reserve survey found 49% of U.S. adults under 30 lived with a parent in 2025, up 12 percentage points from 2019. A Boston College analysis linked higher real rents and lower rental vacancy rates to the trend, suggesting housing explains only part of the rise.
Researchers compared otherwise similar people by state and found that those in states with higher real rents and lower rental vacancy rates were significantly more likely to live with a parent, for both men and women. The brief estimated that if 2007 rental conditions prevailed today, parental co-residence would be 1.5% lower for women and 2.1% lower for men. Actual 2007 rates were 4.9 percentage points lower for women and 5.9 points lower for men than today, indicating rental conditions do not account for the full increase.
The article says young adults living with parents are less likely to marry or have children and accumulate less wealth, especially housing wealth; it does not establish that co-residence causes these differences. It points to student debt, a weak entry-level job market and housing costs as pressures. The author says declining marriage and fertility could be either a cause or a consequence of living with parents, and that more research is needed. Fewer children could also add pressure to programs such as Social Security, the article says.