Why are so many Gen Z’s still living at home?

Image by OleksandrPidvalnyi from Pixabay

By Tilly McAuley

The idea of moving away from home in your early twenties is suddenly becoming a thing of the past, something that could almost be deemed as a myth. Grandparents will reminisce on purchasing their own house, a place that became a home with their loved ones, and inevitably starting to raise a family there.

But in this decade, the rate of young people moving out is decreasing at a staggering rate. And the question of why remains.

Some argue it’s laziness – young people don’t want to work anymore, their drive for success weakened in the current decade. Some say it’s comfort – being at home with reminders of growing up and remaining close with their parents causes them to want to stay at home.

Despite all of these possibilities being true, perhaps there is a much more complicated answer for this.

A study by UCL found that more than two thirds of people in the UK are still living with their parents at the age of twenty-three, which is around three times higher than the ‘millennial’ generation a decade ago. It isn’t because of the easy explanation of laziness, it’s widely because they simply cannot afford it. 

It’s likely that any young person would like to move out and gain their own independence, but with the high rent prices and cost of living crisis in the UK, it makes it almost impossible to do so. Not only this, young people who currently take part in higher education also have the strain of debt being placed on them, so adding on top basic rent with electricity, heating, water bills – the opportunity to move out is looking more and more distant.

The current state of the economy makes this chance difficult for those currently in their twenties. The chances of becoming a homeowner is growing slimmer yearly. And while hard work does pay off, will this be a cycle for years to come?