Prolonged 'Kidulthood' in the UK
In Britain, people in their 20s are expected to become self-sufficient. However, the economic system is making this goal more out of reach. A study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, partly for the BBC, shows that 25-year-olds living with their parents has risen from 25% in the 1990s to 42% today. This is not due to lifestyle choices but economic pressures.
The report finds that co-residence among 20-somethings and 30-somethings has grown by more than a third over the last 20 years. While Britain’s rate is still lower than in Italy and Spain, where moving out often happens with marriage, the trend is heading in that direction without the cultural acceptance. The main issue is housing affordability and income stagnation.
Job opportunities for 25-year-olds have dropped for both men and women, and real wages have barely grown since two decades ago. As a result, the number of 25-year-olds owning homes has plummeted from 43% in the mid-1980s to just 15% now. Changing demographics might have affected these numbers, but affordability problems have actually pushed them higher.
A 26-year-old man told the BBC Today programme how living at home impacted his personal life: 'I’m not going to bring a girl back to my parents’ house. So it would have 100% affected that part of my life, which does get me low.' His experience shows how a lack of stable housing can harm emotional and social growth during a key time in life.
Families with more money often help their adult children become independent. Less well-off families keep adult children at home to save money, which can reduce privacy and increase costs for the parents. This situation deepens inequality in wealth and personal independence.
The IFS study argues that these economic outcomes are not due to natural market forces but stem from systems that suppress wages, let landlords gain from a lack of housing, and give the wealthy better access to opportunities. A social democratic approach should include building more affordable homes, improving wages and job protection, and adjusting tax policies to focus on rent-based wealth rather than income from work.