Some parents don’t mind if their child moves back when hurting in this economy. Our next door neighbor has their adult son living at home. The son does all the yard work and takes care of all his laundry etc... I feel sorry for the kid since he turns in resume after resume, interview after interview. I didn’t live during the Depression but something tells me that families helped each other when they were down. I have the feeling that families took their own kin in until things got better. IMHO.
The problem with adult “children” living at home is when there is no set plan for (a)rent & board, (b) help with things around the home community and (c) when the experience will end. It can be mighty cushy if you can just hang out and eat (even though your sense of self deteriorates quickly).
If you’ve seen the show, “The Waltons”, I think you’ll find that was a reasonable representaion of many families of that era during the Depression, with the core family and the grown children, if they were employed nearby were often allowed to live in the house to defray the costs of living.
I believe you are right. My mother was born in ‘29 and she told of their family which lived with his parents while he went on the road to work. Grandma’s and grandpas lived with them too if need be and EVERYONE pitched in. She made it sound very idyllic.