Boomerang Kids- What are they and how does this effect the parents
According to an article in Investopedia in 2022, boomerang children are young adults or other adult children who move back in with their parents after living independently. Often, boomerang children return to their parents for economic reasons such as low wages, low savings, high debt, or unemployment, or global financial crisis.
In 2016, 15% of millennials lived in their parents’ home, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of monthly U.S. Census Bureau information.
Fast forward four years, this figure has jumped to 52% of young adults living with their parents, based on the same analysis by Pew in mid-2020. The cause for the uptick? The global outbreak, which as of February 2021, continues to negatively impact jobs, health, and social welfare in the United States.
Boomerangs Around the World
While the term boomerang primarily refers to an American phenomenon, other countries experiencing similar conditions have adopted descriptive terms to identify the children who return, or never leave, home. For example, in the U.K., children boomeranging back home has given rise to the acronym KIPPERS (or Kids In Parents' Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings).
In many cultures, however, intergenerational cohabitation is commonplace. In many ways, the practice of adult children moving away from parents is a more modern practice facilitated by Western industrial development, and an overall trend for generations to pass increased prosperity to the next generation.
So, how does this affect the parents?
According to the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College, 2023, the popularized image of parents who struggle when adult children move back home is not shaping up as an accurate picture of the arrangements.
Some parents get stressed out by young adults who return home because they need financial support. Others welcome having the kids back to pad the empty nest, help with household chores, or pay help pay the bills. The return home is not a one-time thing either. “As they attempt to gain financial independence, adult children may alternate between living on their own and living with parents,” according to a new study of parents in their 50’s and 60’s.
But young adults who move back home do not seem to affect their parents’ health, wealth levels, hours worked, or general well-being when compared with other parents. One reason these events have minimal impact is that they tend to be temporary and are being driven by real-world issues like the child’s divorce or loss of income, the researchers said.
The one way that parents in the study do seem to be affected by boomerang children is that they are more likely than other parents to say they plan to work past age 65. Even so, this is mainly true for parents under 62 – and for fathers more than mothers.
So, it appears from the research and this fits in with members of my friend group who are experiencing this, that kids returning home doesn’t have much of a negative impact on the parents and may actually have a positive impact. Boomerang kids can help pay the bills, help with chores, help ease the empty-nest feelings that parents are going through.
The only negative impacts seem to relate to parents deciding to delay retirement and work longer. The delay in retirement is usually taken on by the fathers, but not always).
If we look at other cultures it is very common for multiple generations to cohabitate. This has been going on since the beginning of time in many societies.
Who knows, maybe this phenomenon is a change for the better. If we look at this through the lens of aging, we know that there will come a time where we are all going to need someone to help take care of us. Pairing this with the truth that there will not be enough facilities for most elders and the state of our medical system, the cohabitation looks like a good option.
It does bring up one thought for me though, for those of us who are older, having families of our own, and are now facing the fact that our aging parents need our help, this creates difficulties. I left home for a reason. I do not have the best relationship with my parents, and we have been a part for many years. It is difficult. I think the key to making this work for the parents and the boomerang kids is that they end of living at home at a younger age, when the parents are still missing them and/or used to having them around. The transition to having them come back home is easier than parent and adult being separated for many years.
As a parent, my young adult is only 15, se won’t be dealing with this for a few more years. I could see both my husband and I enjoying having him around if he decides to stay for a few more years. It is also okay with me if he decides to go. We each have a life to live and decisions to make along the way. What is best for one person and/or one family is not the same as to what is best for another person/family.
What are your thoughts? Are you in the stage where you are experiencing this phenomenon of Boomerang Kids? Please take a moment and let me know.
https://crr.bc.edu/boomerang-kids-dont-derail-their-parents/