More U.S. Young Adults Return Home as Pandemic Reduces Options

(Bloomberg) -- Pandemic-induced shutdowns of colleges, a lack of opportunities for newly minted graduates and limited job options are exacerbating a trend in which more young adults are living with their parents and grandparents.

“If 2020 was like the previous three years, I would expect there to be 21.9 million of them living with their parents. Instead there are 24.8 million living at home, an increase of 2.9 million from the expected number,” according to a Monday blog post by Philip Cohen, a sociologist at the University of Maryland. “That is a lot of rent not being spent.”

Utilizing data from the Labor Department’s current population survey, Cohen found that biggest increases were among 21-year-old men and 20-year-old women. There was a marked increase for Black young adults, according to Cohen’s post. Nearly 60% of young adult Black men are living with parents or grandparents, the highest share of any race and gender group.

“The younger cohorts have been hit very hard by the pandemic. A lot of the job losses have been in leisure and hospitality, in retail, industries where they employ a lot of younger people. So this recession has — the impact has been disproportionate,” said Ryan Sweet, head of monetary policy research at Moody’s Analytics.

In recent months, men in particular have been dropping out to the labor force quickly as the health crisis disrupts a once-solid job market.

“Future research will have to determine which of the many possible disruptions to their lives is driving this event,” Cohen said.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.