Market Matters: Try a Naked Room

A recent Pew Social & Demographic Trends survey: 78% of 25-34 year olds have lived with their parents and were satisfied with the arrangement. 

78%...

For all of you who are looking for some peace and quiet in your twilight years, you may want to consider taking up some kind of offensive hobby between now and then. For a uniquely offensive approach, try Terry Bradshaw, “In Failure to Launch”, a hilarious (old) movie where the parents retire and the Dad decides to convert his son’s old room to his “Naked Room”. Seeing Terry Bradshaw naked at 244 lbs would do it for me…I’d be sleeping at work.

But seriously, one boom to a housing recovery would be young adults moving out of their parents’ homes and starting their own households. But what if they don’t want to?

The recession has caused an increase in young adults living in multigenerational households. According to Census data analyzed by the Pew Research Center 21.6% of 25-34 year olds lived in such an arrangement in 2010, up from 11% in 1980. One argument for a coming rebound in home sales and construction has centered on those young adults being able to form their own households.

The recession has created financial barriers for younger Americans looking to start their own households, including high unemployment and debt. Recent improvements in the job market and overall economy have sparked hopes that those barriers are beginning to break down.

Ok, now for the scary part:

But that assumes 25-34 year olds want to go it alone. “If there’s supposed to be a stigma attached to living with mom and dad through one’s late twenties or early thirties, today’s ‘boomerang generation’ didn’t get that memo. Among the three-in-ten young adults ages 25 to 34 (29%) who’ve been in that situation during the rough economy of recent years, large majorities say they’re satisfied with their living arrangements (78%),” writes Kim Parker, senior researcher at the Pew Social & Demographic Trends.

Its hard to imagine who these kids are…hopefully, as much as we love them, not ours.

Western Bancorp

Katie Eichten is the SVP of Capital Markets at Western Bancorp (WBC).