"Over the past six months or so, I’ve noticed a marked uptick in moms of young adults posting to local Facebook groups expressing their embarrassment and/or discomfort with the fact that their adult children are still living at home despite their obvious desire to let their children stay for as long as they’d like," said writer Kristi Roe-Owen on the TulsaKids website earlier this year.
"Often, the post isn’t a question but simply a request for reassurance that they’re not alone — one that is answered resoundingly."
This week, a new survey confirms that the trend for this boomerang effect remains strong. Thrivent's fifth annual Boomerang Kids Survey found that 44% of U.S. parents with adult children ages 18–35 report that a child has moved back in with them at some point.
"Adult children moving back in with their parents has shifted from stigma to strategy — for both parents and kids," says Thrivent Financial Consultant Gene Elder. "Five years into Thrivent's survey, we've found that boomerang living is not a blip; it's becoming a lasting part of how families plan their money and keep moving toward their long-term financial goals."
Why Adult Kids Boomerang Back to the Parental Home
Some 43% of parents housing boomerang kids said their own finances had been affected, according to the survey, with approaching one in five raiding their savings or retirement funds to keep their struggling child afloat.
If 34% boomeranged in order to build a down payment, 66% did so for other reasons. Most of those did so because their finances were squeezed: They couldn't afford rent, they'd become unemployed or sick, or they simply couldn't live on their income.
The rest? Well, presumably, some help out mom and dad with health issues or emotional support. And, no doubt, some are lazy deadbeats.
Multigenerational Living
Multigenerational living is making a big comeback in the United States.
"According to our 2025 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report, 21% of Gen X buyers (ages 45-59),15% of younger boomers (ages 60-69), and 12% of older millennials (ages 35-44) purchased multigenerational homes," said the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) last year.
"Over the past decade, a noticeable shift has occurred in the generational breakdown of multigenerational home buyers. Gen-X buyers, often referred to as 'the sandwich generation' in the housing market, have increased their share of this market from 12% in 2013 to 21% today. Older millennial buyers appear to be following suit with a steady increase in multigenerational home buying, growing from 9% in 2018 (the first recorded year of “older millennial” buyers) to 12% today.
However, unlike the rise in Gen X and older millennial multigenerational homebuyers, young boomer buyers have decreased from 22% to 15% since 2013, reports the NAR.
Forty-one percent of the NAR's respondents said they had adult (18+) children living at home, up from 18% in 2015. Last year, there was a roughly even split between boomerang kids and those who had never left home.
That represents a significant demographic shift in how Americans live, observed over a single decade. Of course, many multigenerational homes comprise adult homeowners accommodating their elderly parents, often alongside young or adult children. That's why Gen-Xers are called the sandwich generation.
How to Make Multigenerational Living Work
Generations United provides tips for successfully living together (our paraphrasing):
- Spend time together — Cook, eat, chat, watch TV, share stories, all as a single family unit
- Modify the home — Try to meet everyone's needs for privacy and accessibility
- Agree on cost sharing — Who's going to pay for what
- Agree on standards — Adults aren't like small children. But minimum standards of behavior should be clearly agreed upon
- Accept that things will get stressful — Some conflict is inevitable. But work on ways to avoid and relieve it
- Establish routines — Who does what and when, as well as set periods for spending time together
- Create realistic expectations — "Including time spent together, privacy, responsibilities, compromises, the benefits, and the sacrifices that will be made"
- Allow "me" time — People need time and space to themselves
- Share your experiences with others — Be open with friends about the challenges and rewards of multigenerational living. They may provide support or even want to try it themselves
