Living at Home

Living with your parents isn't necessarily a social death sentence

One reality that is seldom discussed is when young men live at home instead of in a cool bachelor pad like the Digital Ghetto of yore and lore.

A record 25.2 million young American adults (about 33%) under 35 have returned to the family nest as the cost of living has become prohibitive.

There is a stereotype of Americans living at home with their parents as freeloaders, living in the basement and spending their ample free time playing video games. That is far from the reality. Around 70% of young adults (ages 25 to 34) living at home are actively employed and use their income to contribute to the household expenses, like groceries and utilities.

One of the main reasons for Americans opting to live with their parents is the high price of home ownership. The median sales price for a single-family home in the US is approximately $434,300. Compare that to 1975 when the average price was under $40,000. That demonstrates how much the dollar has shrunk in terms of purchasing power.

According to a report by Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Study (JCHS), existing home prices have risen 54% since 2020 and are about five times the median income – a level well above the ratio of three times that prevailed in the 1990s.

At the same time, mortgage rates are over 6%, which makes the payment on a median-priced home $3,100 in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from $1,700 in early 2020. That has pushed the income needed to afford that payment to more than $120,000 – a significant increase from $66,000 in 2020, the JCHS report found.

Meanwhile, the cost of renting an apartment has also drifted upwards. A two-room apartment will set renters back some $2,500 per month, with that figure greatly fluctuating according to location. The median price of renting an apartment in New York City, for example, is approximately $4,209 to $4,927 per month…

The housing problem goes far at explaining the generational divide that is haunting the US, but there are other reasons for the crisis. According to Michael Snyder and his blog The Economic Collapse, Americans that are over the age of 55 control approximately 73% of all wealth in the United States. At the same time, Americans that are age 55 or younger control just 27% of all wealth. As Snyder emphasizes, “never before in history has there been a generational divide of this magnitude.”

Speaking as a man who lived in his parents’ house for two years after college, I can testify that it’s not necessarily a hindrance to the attractional process, even if it doesn’t necessarily sound cool. Unfortunately, in most cases, we’re not talking about living in a 12,000-square foot mansion on a lake by yourself because Mommy and Daddy are off to Europe for several years, a period I consider my Great Gatsby era.

But it’s not as if women I was meeting for the first time knew the specifics of the situation. And it’s not exactly the sort of information you can readily drop as an excuse for living at home, at least, not without sounding like a spoiled little jackass.

So, here’s my advice:

1. Own it. Don’t try to hide it, don’t be defensive about it, and don’t be weird about it. Do I have my own place? No, I live at my parents’ house. No, it’s not a problem, it’s great!

2. Have a number of pre-prepared places to go where you can find some alone time. Be creative.

3. When asked about it, have a good reason. Women will forgive a man starting a business or saving up for a down payment on a house, especially women looking for a relationship. Remember, living in your parents’ house is merely proxy for being a loser, it’s not actually indicative of it.

4. Don’t be negative or take offense at being asked about it. It’s a natural question.

This is going to apply to more and more young men over time, so have a plan and have a strategy. Alternatively, if you’re fortunate enough to rent a house with the guys, make the most of it!