London: There was a time when teenagers couldn't wait to fly the nest, scurrying off to university or moving into shared rented accommodation with friends while they saved to buy their first home.
But new statistics show that record-breaking numbers of adults are back living with their parents, unable, Ϡor in some cases, unwilling to take on Britain's crippling housing costs.
Government figures have revealed that an increasing number of young men and women are becoming ‘children for life'.
The proportion of men in their 20s living at home has risen from 59 per cent to 80 per cent in the past 15 years, while the number of women has risen from 41 per cent to 50 per cent. Astonishingly, the age of the average first-time buyer is now 38.
Another study by investment firm Scottish Widows found that half of all parents are seeing their savings ‘plundered' by children struggling to cope with student debt, the rising cost of living and unaffordable property prices.
Not surprisingly, tension and resentments can build and family fallouts are common when parents and their adult children live under the same roof.
Psychologists have even begun to coin phrases to describe the different types of adult offspring who fail to leave home. ‘Failure to launch' describes the adult child who lacks the impetus to fly the nest and become independent; ‘boomerang children' are those who did leave but keep coming back, while ‘kippers' is an acronym for ‘kids in parents' pockets eroding retirement savings.
So extensive is the problem that the charity Parentline Plus has launched a special section on its website, Grown Up And Living At Home, to cope with the growing demand for help.
