Almost 20% of Dorset adults still live with their parents
Citizen's Advice Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole have been telling us why more 'adult children' are living at home
Almost 20% of adults in Dorset lived with their parents in 2021 but Citizens Advice Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole anticipate that this figure has risen since.
The Census data showed that most people in their early 20s were living in their family home.
The average age of ‘adult children’ (a person over 18-years-old who is living with their parent(s) and does not have a spouse, partner or child living with them living) was 24-years-old in England and Wales.
A spokesperson for Citizen’s Advice BCP, Tom Lund told us: “There's no shame in that multi-generational living if that means people can have a better quality of life, so we don't necessarily see it as a huge negative.”
He wasn’t surprised to hear that almost 20% of young adults in BCP resided in their childhood home considering the high property prices, unaffordability of mortgages and the price and rents in the area.
Mr Lund said: “We've seen more debt issues than we've ever seen in BCP, we've got particularly high property prices and we’re in a rent crisis at the moment so people just can't afford the rents.”
The Office for National Statistics also found more than 1 in 10 (11.6%) of those aged 30 to 34 were living with their parents, up from 8.6% a decade earlier.
Citizen’s Advice BCP expects there to be a “significant rise” in 30 to 40-year-olds living with their parents, by the time data is next recorded, amid the cost-of-living crisis.
Mr Lund noted: “When you've got your own home, you've got all those other additional costs as well which in a multi-generational household are perhaps sometimes easier to deal with.”
He believes that parents and ‘adult children’ will be living together the same way flatmates do as opposed to children living at home.
The charity also suggests that poor property conditions especially in rented accommodation is a contributing factor to higher levels of ‘adult children living at home’.
Mr Lund added: “Young people are looking at it saying, ‘what’s the benefit to me moving out when in family my home it’s a comfortable environment’ there's less of an incentive for people to go out and rent or own property.”