It’s not always kids taking advantage and being lazy. In tough economic times, families move in together, multigenerationally. It happened during the Great Depression to such an extent that many houses were built with two front doors. Maybe the parents are having trouble meeting expenses and the kids are helping out in exchange for a place that they, too, can afford to live in.
I agree; I think it is a sound response to a crappy economy when the young people aren’t starting their own families - especially in a state like NJ, where property taxes are high and retirees can’t stay in their homes because their fixed incomes won’t cover those taxes.
If I wasn’t married with a family, I’d probably still live at home - and couldn’t care less how much “society” tried to force me out. They wanted to marginalize men, they got it; now they can enjoy the consequences.
And in my area during my childhood/young adulthood, one did not move out of the family home until one married or moved out of the area. South Philly Italian/Irish heritage. It was common for households to have grandparents, parents, kids living together. Very family centered.