What's Making Adult Children in the US Move Back Home?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2003, "55 percent of men and 46 percent of women 18-24 years old lived at home with one or both parents" while "14 percent of men and 7 percent of women ages 25-34 years old," still lived at home.

While there are those who think that adults who still live at home are just too lazy to move out, the reality is that many of them want to leave home and start one of their own, but they can't.

The high cost of living, enormous student loans and lack of employment opportunities are just a few of the reasons why some adult children are unable to leave the nest. Others stay home while attending college because they are able to save more money than if they had their own apartment or lived on campus.

And then there are those like Jackie Mravinec, who find themselves having to care for elderly or sick parents.

Mravinec is a 26-year-old still living at home with her father. She was taking care of her sick mother before she passed away in 2003. Unable to leave her father home by himself, she decided to stay and keep him company.

After going through the grieving process and getting back to a "normal life," she began thinking about moving out of the house in 2005. However, after starting a serious relationship and becoming engaged, she decided to stay at home so that she could save money for her upcoming wedding. She also hopes to buy her own house with her future husband.

Mravinec says that there aren't any cons to still living at home, but there are plenty of pros. "Now that I'm not a little kid anymore," she says, "we're more like roommates. He respects my space and life and I respect his."

Mravinec also says that she not only saves money by not having to pay mortgage or rent, but it's nice to have someone else to help with the cleaning and upkeep of the house.

Better yet, living at home has been a blessing to her relationship with her father.

"My dad and I have always had a great relationship," she says, "but I think this has brought us even closer together."

Mravinec is quick to explain that although she doesn't pay rent, she is anything but a mooch.

"I buy all my own stuff...my groceries for my lunches, my cat food and supplies, my personal products...and if we run out of something, like laundry detergent, whoever is next to go to the supermarket needs to pick it up."

Mravinec isn't the only young adult able to use living at home as a way to save money in order to make a good start in life.

Michelle Miller is a 25-year-old whose entire life changed within a very short period of time.

"In the span of a week, I broke up with my fiancé, quit my job and decided to go back to school."

She says that moving back was hard, but she felt that it was the right thing to do.

"I was spread way too thin to keep up on all the bills to my house alone," says Miller. "I felt that my biggest chance to succeed long-term would be to swallow my pride and ask my mother if I could come back home for awhile."

For Miller, one of the biggest pros to living at home is that she can concentrate more on her schooling instead of trying to hold down multiple jobs to keep herself financially afloat, but at times it can get tough, especially when her mother forgets that she is 25-years old.

"Although my mother tries incredibly hard to see me as an adult, sometimes she reverts back to treating me like a child," says Miller. "It's hard to feel like I'm grown when I have her reminding me to do my chores."

However, Miller says that she has no regrets about moving back home and while she isn't where she envisioned herself to be when she was 18, if she had it to do over again, she wouldn't do anything differently.

"I'm from the belief that everything you do in your life leads you to where you are now," she says. "Sometimes life throws you a curve ball. You have to learn to make the most out of every situation you find yourself in."