Background
I was with a group of a dozen parents recently and the topic that arose was “how much do you charge your children for rent?” Almost half of the parents had adult children living at home. It was a fascinating debate — some charged nothing, others a modest amount, one got market rate. This points to a broader question – how much does it cost parents to have an adult child living at home? And how the cost of boomerang children impacting their retirement?
This post will look at the trend of more children moving back home, and evaluate the financial impact of boomerang kids. I’m not going to address the psychological impact on parents or children when the kids move back in, or how to deal with them – that’s worth several posts on its own!
Findings
- Dramatically more adult children are living with their parents. Census data shows that since 1970, this proportion has more than doubled, from 7% of 25-34 year olds to 16%.
- They’re not buying homes, as home prices skyrocket: The average home purchase price is up 57% since 2011. An Economist analysis showed that while in 1990, a generation of Boomers with a median age of 35 owned 1/3 of America’s real estate by value, in 2019 a similarly sized cohort of Millennials owned just 4%. The kids may be living at home while they save for a house, but…
- Those kids don’t live for free: While it’s hard to quantify the cost of these adult children living at home, their parents may be spending roughly $1,000/month to support them. The table below shows some of the expenses that historically parents didn’t pay for when their children left home, but may be footing the bill for now. Food, utilities, cars, health insurance, cell phones – the cost of boomerang children adds up.
- Potential big chunk of parents’ retirement savings: A Synchrony Bank study concluded that families in their 50’s have a median retirement savings of $117,000 (many have none at all). A child at home for 3 years costing over $35,000 would cost a third of retirement savings amount – not small change!
Parents’ incremental monthly cost of boomerang children living at home (details in the small print section below):
| Food | $200 |
| Utilities | $100 |
| Cars/insurance/gas | $300 |
| Healthcare – insurance and medical costs | $300 |
| Cell phone | $100 |
| Miscellaneous spending/allowance | $100 |
TOTAL $1,100
Implications
Boomerang children represent a significant risk to their parents’ financial health. At a time when the parents would normally be downsizing their house, their fleet of cars, and their expenses, they are postponing the reduction and spending on their kids. This doesn’t even count the potential impact of helping the children pay off their student loans, which some parents are doing. Bottom line, many Americans are likely risking their retirement because the kids are still on the payroll.
Because the unemployment rate of late 20’s kids is single digit, most of them should be able to reimburse their parents for living expenses. Yet fewer than half of these boomerang kids contribute anything for rent. Hence parents are paying costs they don’t need to! If you are advising clients on how to manage their finances, a key should be that the parents shouldn’t be too quick to foot the bill for their adult children. The kids can afford it, the parents often can’t, and the psychologists will say it’s healthier for the kids’ development to take on this responsibility.
The small print
The data on kids living at home is for 25-34 year olds, a readily available census category. If we had data for just 25-29 year olds, the percentage at home is likely much higher, perhaps double. The costs of the kids at home are all estimates. Food is a rough number based on what families typically pay for food, and the fact that the kids tend to eat a lot. Utilities assumes the kids are at home using electricity and heat when the parents are away. Cars are a big item. Insurance on a younger male can be $3,000 or more a year, and maintaining an extra car brings a lot of costs. Health costs are based on the incremental expense to add children on a typical corporate plan plus a higher out of pocket maximum for a family.