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rfmcdonaldYesterday's post on the Canadian census' findings on changing family structures created some discussion about 20-somethings staying in the parental home.
Susan Pigg's Toronto Star article, "Census data shows more young adults opting to live with mom and dad in 905 regions", reveals the proportion is particularly high in Toronto, with a majority of 20-somethings in the city of Toronto and up to three-quarters of 20-somethings in Toronto suburban communities staying at home with their parents.
Canada has seen robust job growth, but as of 2011 the employment rate had not yet returned to pre-Great Recession levels. http://www4.hrsdc.gc.ca/.3ndic.1t.4r@-eng.jsp?iid=13#M_1
So it is possible that the phenomenon is a result of economic conditions.
If it is not, however, then it is bad. I left the house at 1988, age 18, never to return. Short of prolonged unemployment or a bout of single parenthood, I cannot think of circumstances in which I would have returned without shame. (Assuming that we create a parallel universe where that was an option.) I submit for your consideration that said norm was a good thing.
But I also submit that the current situation may be an effect of the recession.
Susan Pigg's Toronto Star article, "Census data shows more young adults opting to live with mom and dad in 905 regions", reveals the proportion is particularly high in Toronto, with a majority of 20-somethings in the city of Toronto and up to three-quarters of 20-somethings in Toronto suburban communities staying at home with their parents.
More than 75 per cent of 20- to 29-year-olds in GTA municipalities such as Richmond Hill, King City, Pickering, Vaughan and Caledon are still living with their parents, according to newly released census data.
That’s considerably more than the 56.3 per cent of 20-somethings who are still living at home in Toronto — and the 42.3 per cent across Canada — the 2011 census shows.
But the 905 nesting phenomenon appears to be far more cultural and financial than that old cliché of boomerang kids failing to launch.
Arian Saffarian, 26, and his 31-year-old brother are both still living at the Oakville home where they grew up after their parents emigrated here from Iran in 1996. Saffarian is in his final year at York University then has student loans to pay off. His brother is getting his feet on the ground in the working world.
[. . .]
Sales representative Diane Natalizio sees such old-world traditions and family dynamics playing out in the showroom of Expo City, one of the first major condo developments planned for the City of Vaughan.
“We see people in here who are 28 and nervous about being on their own for the first time. That’s the European background — you live at home until you get married,” says Natalizio, who did just that until she was 25.
[. . .]
University of British Columbia professor Mary Ann Murphy is more concerned about what she calls “delayed adulthood.” The 2011 census revealed just 30.8 per cent of young adults are likely to be part of a couple, compared to 51.8 per cent in 1981.
“We’ve got failure to launch, we’re delaying marriage, we’re delaying parenthood,” said Murphy, who specializes in issues around aging. “What are the future implications for these older parents who have young children. As they get into their senior years, they may be 70-something with children at home,” she said.
[. . .]
Mayor David Barrow was surprised to find out that 76.5 per cent of Richmond Hill’s young adults are still bunking with mom and dad, but suspects many are commuting by day to universities and colleges in the GTA.
As well, over 50 per cent of the city’s residents come from other countries, like China, where housing is so expensive it’s just expected that kids will stay at home until they marry.
