Goodbye, empty nest: Millennials staying longer with parents

For the first time on record, living with parents is now the most common arrangement for people ages 18 to 34, an analysis of census data by the Pew Research Center has found.

[...] the proportion of older millennials — those ages 25 to 34 — who are living at home has reached its highest point (19 percent) on record, Pew analysts said.

The pattern may be a contributing factor in the sluggish growth of the U.S. economy, which depends heavily on consumer spending.

With more young people living with their parents rather than on their own, fewer people need to buy appliances, furniture or cable subscriptions.

The proportion of young adults living with their parents is similar to the proportions that prevailed from 1880 through 1940, when the figure peaked, Pew found.

Nela Richardson, chief economist at real estate brokerage Redfin, says one explanation for the sparse supply is that many baby boomers aren't able to sell their family homes and downsize for retirement because they still have adult children living with them.

Jed Kolko, a senior fellow at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, says soaring rents are discouraging some from leaving their parents' homes.

Heavier student debt loads have sent more young people back to their parents' nests, according to research by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Marshella, 22, says living at home has helped her save money from her job as a human resources specialist.

Because many people her age share the same circumstances, most sympathize with her.