More Young People Are Living With Their Parents Than Ever Before

A quarter of young Britons are stuck at home.

A record 3.3 million Britons aged between 20 and 34 are living with their parents, according to official statistics released today.

ons.gov.uk / Via ons.gov.uk

The number of people living with their parents has increased by 600,000 since 1996. That's despite the number of people in that age group being approximately the same.

This is mainly because there's been a hefty rise in the number of 20-24 year olds who are still at home.

ONS / Jim Waterson

Almost half of all 20-24 year Britons now live with their parents. The Office for National Statistics suggests this may be due to the economic downturn, with young people finding it hard to get a job and staying with their parents.

Who's affected? Well, young men are way more likely to be stuck at home listening to their Dad's anecdotes.

ONS

Young men are almost twice as likely as women to live with their parents. And, for time, more than two million young men are recorded living with their parents.

You're 50 per cent more likely to live with your parents in Northern Ireland than London.

ONS

London attracts young people from other cities for jobs, who then are happy to put up with sharing a grotty flat in Zone 6 rather than live with their parents.

The ONS reckons young people are more likely to stay at home for university and then marry at a young age, meaning they are more likely to stay with their parents until they move in with their new husband or wife.

So why are people stuck with their parents?

Well the lack of affordable housing is a barrier to young people buying their own place to live.

And in some more socially conservative parts of the UK – such as Northern Ireland – young people are happier to stay with their parents while they work and try and try to find a partner.

Basically, it's the economy stupid.

Jim Waterson / ONS

Unemployed young people are twice as likely to live with their parents. And as youth unemployment rising during the economic crisis so did the number of 20-34 year olds living at home.

Whether more people will move out as the economy improves remains to be seen. But if you just spent your 20s reluctantly living with your parents then sorry – you might just have been born at the wrong time.