Live at home longer and buy your home sooner
By 07 November 2011
There’s a commonly held belief that young Australians are living at home longer than in previous generations, and it’s not just something perpetuated by disgruntled parents.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ 2006–07 ‘Family Characteristics and Transitions Survey’ found that almost one in four (23%) people aged 20–34 years were living at home with their parents. This compared with 19% in 1986.1
Research from RAMS Home Loans backs up these findings and identifies a potential cause: Many young Australians are living longer with their parents as a way to save for a home of their own.
There were many reasons for young Australians still living – or returning to live – at home with their parents, but a key issue was housing affordability.
The trend towards living in the parental home is primarily economic. Buying or renting housing is expensive and cost of living pressures make maintaining their desired lifestyle difficult.”
Some young people had the money to buy a house or apartment, but choose to rent it out and continue living at home with their parents. This enables them to have the best of both worlds and, if they’re happy to continue living at home, decide to take advantage of cheaper accommodation at home while they still can.
Even when children do leave the nest at a relatively young age, many of them eventually return home in a phenomenon known as ‘boomerang children’.
These are children who might leave home in their late teens or early twenties but, for various reasons, return to live at home at different times during their mid to late twenties.
It’s a trend that’s not going away anytime soon.
Chris Thornton Head of Brand and Marketing, RAMS
1 Australian Bureau of Statistics, Ref: 4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, June 2009.