We seem to have a growing problem here in American and that is more 18-34 year old's are living at home with their parents then compared to the 1970’s.

Back in the 1970’s American young adults between the ages of 18-34 were quite a bit more likely to live on their own as compared to today.

The question is why?  I am sure part of the reason is the economic downturn over the last 10 years.

There are now more young people living with their parents than in any other arrangement

The Census Bureau also stated that:

Almost 9 in 10 young people who were living in their parents’ home a year ago are still living there today, making it the most stable living arrangement

In fact more 18-34 year old's now live with their parents as compared to married and living with their spouses.  There are 22.9 million 18-to-34 year old's who live with their parents and 19.9 million who are married and live with their spouse.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s data shows that in 1975 31.9 million Americans in the 18-to-34 age bracket were married and lived with their spouse, as of the most recent data there are 19.9 million in that age bracket that live with their spouses.  Also in 1975, 14.7 million in the 18-to-34 age bracket lived in their parents’ home, as of the most recent data there are 22.9 million in that age bracket that live with their parents.

The Top Ten states with the highest percentages of 18-to-34 year olds living with their parents were:

  1. New Jersey (46.9%)
  2. Connecticut (41.6%)
  3. New York (40.6%)
  4. Maryland (38.5%)
  5. Florida (38.3%)
  6. California (38.1%)
  7. Rhode Island (37.1%)
  8. Pennsylvania (37.1%)
  9. Massachusetts (37.0%)
  10. Mississippi (36.8%)

Where did Michigan rank in the data?  Michigan came in as the 16th highest ranked state with 34.9% of 18-34 year old's living with their parents.

As I stated above we need to determine what is causing this issue, is it harming the development of these young adults and what can or should be done about it?

Again the economic downturn America faced in 2007 is surely part of the issue but we are 10 years past that date and we know that we came out of the recession in June of 2009.

Why do we still have this issue?

Could it be that our young adults also do not want to take on the responsibilities of living on their own?

Are we as parents failing our children by not pushing them out of the nest if they can actually afford to be on their own?

Or is it still an issue of economics?

The other disturbing issue the Census Bureau found was:

More young men are falling to the bottom of the income ladder.  In 1975, only 25 percent of men, aged 25 to 34, had incomes of less than $30,000 per year. By 2016, that share rose to 41 percent of young men (incomes for both years are in 2015 dollars)

Again the question is why, what is happening that young men have fallen so far behind in the income ladder.

Could it just be lack of opportunity or lack of incentive to want to do whatever you need to do to get ahead in the economic ladder?

Or could it be that money is less important to these young men these days, but that then opens up another can or worms.

The Live with Renk Show airs Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to noon, to let me know your thoughts call (269) 441-9595

More From WBCKFM