The memorable lines to the classic Christmas song go, “I’ll be home for Christmas; You can count on me.” But how many parents were counting on their adult children staying home well past the holiday season? A 2009 Pew Research survey found that 13% of parents with grown children say one of their adult sons or daughters has moved back home in the past year. Among moms and dads ages 45 to 54 with grown children, nearly one-in-five (19%) is a “boomeranged parent.” The survey also asked the question in reverse. Overall, about 11% of all adults age 18 and older say they live with their parents, and 4% of all adults say they were forced to move back with their parents because of the recession. With the recession hitting their generation especially hard, the percentage is even higher among young adults. Fully one-in-ten adults ages 18 to 34 (10%) say the poor economy has forced them to move back in with Mom and Dad. Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.