While at the beginning of the year it seemed like Millennials and Generation Z were going to take hold of the housing market in 2020, the pandemic drastically changed that prediction.
For the first time since the Great Depression, the majority of young adults are living with their parents, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of monthly Census Bureau data.
The analysis found that the share of 18- to 29-year-olds living at home with their parents has become a majority since COVID-19 cases began spreading.
According to the analysis, 52% of young adults resided with one or both of their parents in July, rising from 47% in February.
The number of young adults living with parents grew to 26.6 million, an increase of 2.6 million from February. This surpassed the last record, which was set in 1940 when 48% of young adults lived with their parents. This year marks the first year the percentage exceeded 50%.
The analysis stated that young adults have been particularly hit hard by the pandemic and economic downturn, as about 9% of young adults said they relocated temporarily or permanently and 10% had someone else move in with them.
The biggest reason young adults moved was due to college campuses being closed (23%), followed by job loss or other financial reasons (18%).
The analysis stated this pattern is consistent with unemployment rates. The share of 16- to 24-year-olds who are neither enrolled in school nor employed surged from 11% in February to 28% in June.
The analysis added that there is a higher share of young adults in metro areas living with their parents compared to rural areas. Regardless, both numbers dramatically grew from February to July.
Regionally, the biggest increase in young adults moving in with their parents was in the South, increasing from 46% in February to 52% in July. The Northeast had the largest share of young adults living at home overall, coming in at 57%.
The share of racial and ethnic differences have also narrowed, according to the analysis. As of July, when looking at the percentage of young adults who live with their parents, 58% were Hispanic, 55% were Black, 51% were Asian and 49% were white.
