Millennials Stay Home

Fewer US millennials live apart from their parents and relatives than before the Great Recession, despite five years of economic recovery, according to a July 2015 Pew Research report.

The report compared unemployment figures for young adults (aged 18-34, according to the survey) with the numbers of them living independently from 2007 to April 2015. While almost 70% lived apart in 2010, this figure dropped to 67% in 2015.

• More Millennials, Less Independence: The number of young adults has grown by nearly three million since 2007 – but there has been a decrease in those heading their own households, from 42.7 million in 2007 to 42.2 million in 2015.

• The Gender Perspective: More women live independently today than men, with 72% of millennial women staying in a separate household to their families, compared to 63% of men.

• Education Irrelevant: Both better-educated millennials and those with less schooling have experienced a 2% decline in independent living since the recovery. Today, 86% of college-educated young adults live away from their parents or relatives, down from 88% in 2010.

Changing family structures continue to present big opportunities for brands – see our Modern Family Macro Trend for more.