Normative markers of “adulthood” (completing school, leaving the parental home, becoming financially independent, getting married, and having a child) are increasingly being redefined in the US. Over the last 50 years, traditional life-course trajectories have been postponed by many young adults. Against this backdrop of concurrent and rapid socio-demographic change, the fundamental practice of parenting young adults in the US has evolved.
Contributing factors to parenting young adults more intensively
Covid- 19: The pandemic uprooted the daily lives of millions of young adults, and altered the parent-child relationship in an unprecedented way, as young adult children leaned on their parents for both financial and emotional support. A 2022 poll of US parents, Gen Z, and millennials shows that throughout the course of the pandemic, three in 10 (32%) Gen Z moved home, followed by 18% of younger millennials, and 17% of older millennials. More than half of those who returned home cited that their decision was one of necessity, and nearly half moved in with their parents in order to save money for a down payment on a house or in an effort to pay down debt. While many have since left their parental home, the poll indicates that most (two-thirds) still live there.
The cost of college: The average cost of a college education, including tuition, fees, and room and board, has increased by 169% since 1980. Young adults in the US are saddled with significant student loan debt − greater than any of the previous generations. In 2019, 49% of four-year college degree graduates under the age of 30 were yet to pay off their debts. This challenge of repaying student loans has led to many graduates leaning on their parents for financial support. In 2021, 85% of US parents contributed to their child’s tuition payments, the highest proportion since 2016.
The labour market and cost of living: Today, the US labor market for graduates is both optimistic and tenuous. Recent analysis found that young workers (aged 16-24) are facing favorable, pre-pandemic market conditions and the lowest rate of unemployment since 1953. However, with the current labor markets showing signs of cooling, young workers’ already tenuous status in the labor market will likely be tested, which may lead many to further rely on their parents for support. Meanwhile, high housing costs have led young adults to depend heavily on their parents for help with covering basic living expenses, and has forced many to move back home.
How parenting young adults is impacting parents
Impact on financial resilience: Research and data on the level and type of parental financial support to young adult children is limited; nonetheless, the information available to date suggests that parental contributions could be sizable for certain families. Data from the Pew Research Center shows that more than half (59%) of US parents financially support their young children (aged 18-34). The most common financial support provided by parents includes, general household expenses (28%), and payments towards cell phone bills and streaming service subscriptions (25%). Meanwhile, a 2023 non-representative survey by Savings.com of US parents further showed that among those surveyed, parents who financially supported their non-disabled, young adult children (aged 18-29) provided about $1,400 a month to them, either directly (e.g., cash allowances, paying their bills) or indirectly (e.g., letting them live at home).
Research shows that, when supporting their young adult children in meeting their financial obligations, parents, especially those of lower socio-economic status, face the potential of accumulating significant expenses and affecting their retirement prospects. Many have never planned for it.
Impact on health and well-being: Drawing on the life-course concept of “linked lives”, where parents’ lives and well-being are intrinsically interwoven with those of their children, children’s success or failures naturally affect parents’ own sense of well-being, including their mental health and marital quality. Generally, research has shown that parents’ life satisfaction increases as adult children leave the parental home and gain adult status. However, “boomerang” transitions back to the parental home have been associated with both positive and negative effects on parents’ quality of life and well-being.
Today, parents in the US raising young adults are faced with unprecedented challenges. As traditional adulthood milestones, including financial and residential independence, are farther from grasp for many millennials and Gen Z, more and more parents find themselves engaged in their children’s lives longer and more intensely than they may have imagined. During a period when parents might typically prioritize strengthening their own retirement savings, early data reveal that many continue to financially support the daily expenses of their young adult children. For the economic resilience and health of aging parents to be secured and protected, it is imperative that stakeholders consider the real, substantial, and unanticipated impact (financial, health, social etc.) on parents associated with their children’s protracted transition to adulthood. Only through raised awareness, further research, and reliable data can parents be better supported and loudly championed as they navigate this culturally “new” phase of parenthood.
