More and more young people are living with their parents for longer, with soaring house prices the most common reason for staying at home.
According to a study of 17,000 people by the Melbourne Institute, 54% of men and 47% of women aged 18 to 29 are living with their parents. This is an increase of 12% and 15% over the past two decades.
It also found that children already living at home are choosing to stay for longer.
At the older end of the spectrum, a third of those aged 26 to 29 years old were still at home.
Domain Property Editor Alice Stolz said the number has shifted significantly in just a short period of time.
“It really is based around the fact that house prices have doubled in some parts of the country and the time to save a deposit has increased so much and is much harder,” she said.
“Often, moving home rent free or even paying a lodging amount to parents makes it so much easier to get that deposit than having to pay rent at the same time.”
The amount needed for a house deposit has skyrocketed over the past decade. In Sydney, the 20% deposit needed has more than doubled from $151,000 in 2013 to $319,000 in 2023.
In Melbourne, that figure was $114,000 in 2013 and now sits at $209,000.
In that same period, the average wage has risen about 30%.
Speaking to PEDESTRIAN.TV, Grace, 33, said moving back home at 29 to save for a home deposit was the “best decision I ever made”.
“Instead of paying $350 a week for a room, I paid my dad $100 a week board, meaning I could save faster,” she said.
“It was a slight loss of freedom, but tbh, me and my dad developed more of a roommate relationship, rather than parent-child. Plus, his place was a lot nicer than my freezing cold inner west share house.”
Deputy Director of the Melbourne Institute Roger Wilkins said a shift to staying at home longer began in the early 2000s, however bumped significantly when COVID first hit.
“The social and economic forces that have driven an increase in the number of young adults living with their parents are still present,” he said.
“We’ve seen a rise in higher education participation, declining full-time employment opportunities for young people, a rising cost in housing, and a trend towards later marriage and family formation.”
He said the increasing cost of living appeared to be the big push over recent years, with more young people struggling financially and moving back home to save money.
