[SamAdams76]

It's pretty staggering that a third of Americans 24-34 still live with their parents.

When I came of age, living with your parents was a stigma. Girls wouldn't date you, prospective employers wouldn't take you seriously and your friends would whisper behind your back that you are a loser.

Consequently, I joined the Marine Corps at 17 and never darkened my parent's doorway again unless I was visiting for Sunday dinner.

[Lorianne]

Yep, me too (well not the Marines). I left home at 18 and I would have had to have been in extremely dire straights to go back and ask my parents to live with them.

That said, I think there are some things good about multi-generational living and people helping each other out at different stages in life.

[Undecided 2012]

Me, too. I joined submarines and after my honorable discharge stayed at mom’s until me, my wife and son found a place and only returned for dinners.
You are right, there did used to be a stigma, I guess now it’s different.
When we were young there were many stigmas, now not so much

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I moved out at 17, too. Lived with friends until I left for the Army the following Spring.

...and I LIKE my parents; I was just born ready to go.

Dad says the thing he likes best about me is that I left home at 17 and never came back, LOL! (I’ll take it that he admires my independence and that I’ve never asked him for money!)

Roots and Wings!

[grania]

Considering current circumstances, it's not a bad idea. The adult child has the flexibility to move quickly if a job opportunity occurs somewhere away from home. Helping out the folks means they can help with the finances, and not have the folks burn through their savings with reverse mortgages, annuities, or assisted living. Home ownership is more risky now, with ever-escalating expenses and a mortgage that might be impossible to pay off or to cover if it becomes necessary to sell the house. Decent apartments in safe areas are getting crazy expensive. A lot of these forever children were foolish enough to get college loans for an undergraduate degree.

It's an effect of the mess the US is in. Everyone is losing their economic independence. Generations "doubling up" might be making the best of a bad situation.