Background+rant: I’m in my early to mid-20s and still living at home with my dad. I’m not a NEET and am employed at a normal office job. I enjoy the comfort of my home. I like being with family (and I believe they feel blessed to have their kid at home longer). I like not having to pay rent. However, I also keep feeling some nagging pressure to “grow up and leave the nest”.
Everything in my mind tells me that moving out is irrational. I would lose 1/3rd of my income to rent, go through a bunch of logistical hoops to find a new place, lose the last few moments I have with my family, just so I can prove to nobody that I’m independent, maybe discover new things, and also probably get in on some of that loneliness action that the rest of my generation is going through.
Yet, the pressure is still there. No one looks down on me for it, but I feel a bit embarrassed to tell people I’m living at home, like I’m admitting failure or incompetency. My friends will occasionally ask when I’m planning on moving out and the question just lingers longer than it should in my head. I compare myself to my parents and grandparents and can’t help but feel like a child compared to the people they were when they were at my age.
Obviously quite conflicted on this, so I’m interested in seeing what others have to say.
Children will be living with their parents for longer and longer, remember, with the reduced buying power that young adults have this generation compared to the last (a statement true for a few generations now but entirely noticeable now).
So don’t sweat it. The best thing parents can do to prepare kids for success is to keep them at home and not paying (full) rent for as long as possible.
To compound the issue, hormones at this stage will reduce the young adults’ coping ability, as we’re evolved to go on our own and “grow the species” aggressively at this point. It will make staying at home and getting that financial leg-up that much harder. To succeed, the child needs to be very adult about this and understand it’s primarily hormones; and needs to explain this to the parents who may not know. 30 years later and I’m just figuring it out!
Good luck. Get on actually good footing before you launch.