Money Crashers: Moving Back Home With Your Parents After College

When Money Crashers asked me to update an old article on moving back home with your parents after college, it sounded like an ideal job for me. I'd done exactly that myself, twenty-five years ago (oh good heavens, has it really been that long?), and it had worked out just fine. I knew I didn't intend to stay with Mom and Dad forever, but spending a year there while I looked for a job and then for an apartment I could afford on my starting salary seemed perfectly reasonable. I made a point of contributing to the household by paying them a nominal amount for rent and doing my share of household chores, and they never imposed any unreasonable rules on me.

But when I started to research the article, I discovered my experience hadn't exactly been typical. That is, living with parents after college is typical — more than ever, in fact — but feeling comfortable with the arrangement isn't. Parents often resent "freeloading" kids who don't do their share, and the younger generation often resent parents who continue to treat them like children. Studies have found that young adults living with their parents are more likely to have symptoms of depression than their peers who live on their own. And even financially, this arrangement isn't always helpful. Adults who are still living with parents between the ages of 25 and 34 are less likely to become homeowners within 10 years, and over 30% of them still aren't out on their own at that point.

The focus of this piece is how to get the benefits of living with parents while avoiding the downsides. The key, based on my own experience and those of other young adults who've tried it more recently, is for parents and children to learn to interact as adults. Kids have to act like adults – cleaning up after themselves, paying rent, and contributing to the household in other ways — and make it clear they expect to be treated that way. And, most of all, they should have a clear plan to get out so they don't get stuck in their parents' home forever.

Moving Back Home With Your Parents After College – How to Make It Work