Millennials, a generation of fickle, device-addicted, permanent adolescents, are by now famous for living at home with their parents in large numbers. These circumstances, of course, are somehow their own fault and not precipitated by the economic choices of their elders.
To get the lay of the land here in the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere across the country, and also to engage in a bit of self-promotion, rental listing website Abodo put together a study on home-bound Millennials in the nation's metro areas.
Using data from a research study on metropolitan areas whose populations are greater than one million people, Abodo found that 34.1 percent of Millennials overall were living with their parents. Defining their terms, Abodo wrote that they considered Millennials living at home "as 18- to 34-year-olds whose relation to the householder of their residence was 'child (biological, step, adoptive, foster, grand, or in-law).'"
In the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California area, a smaller percentage, 31.5 percent, were living with the 'rents and presumably not paying to do so. For the 9.2 percent of that group who are also unemployed, its a particularly natural solution. That put SF in 28th place among metro areas for this practice nationwide, notes NBC Bay Area, who picked up the report.
Millennial Services coming to my neighborhood. Can't wait! pic.twitter.com/F1ahQEmCnL
— Musa Tariq (@MusaTariq) September 1, 2016
But don't just blame it on Bay Area rents. "We found that Millennials aren't living at home simply because of high rent prices across the country,” writes ADOBO communications manager Sam Radbil. “Other factors also contribute to Millennials living at home, including education level, student loans, unemployment and low pay. Many Millennials are not only earning less than their parents did as younger adults, but the majority of Millennials who pursue college degrees are eventually saddled with an average student loan debt hovering around $30,000."
The number one failure-to-launch scenario metro area was Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida, where 44.8 percent of local representatives from the generation was shacking up with their parents. Second was the area of Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario California with 44.5 percent of millennials staying at home, and third was New York-Newark-Jersey City, where 43.8 percent of Millennials live in suspended animation.
"The problem isn’t just high rent, or just lack of education, or just unemployment, or just low pay," Radbil explains. "Often, it’s a combination. Millennials are not only earning less than their parents did as young adults, but the majority of Millennials who pursue post-secondary education also graduate saddled with an average student loan debt hovering around $30,000."
Shoulda learned to code, kiddos.
Related: San Francisco And Beyond: Evictions Seen As National Crisis