Back in the nest

'Cuckoo kids', young families who return to their parents' home and 'boomerangers', adults who return home are a relatively new trend in Britain, as CPC researcher Dr Juliet Stone discusses in The Sunday Times in October.

Who returns home and for what reasons? The article considers the story of a 37-year-old man, his wife and two children who live with his parents and their reasons for doing so. As Dr Stone points out in the article, the trend for adults to live with their parents is relatively new in Britain, and we are unsure if it heralds a permanent demographic shift. Dr Stone notes that "It's being bolstered by the recession, but once that lifts, we don't know if people will live more independently or if it's something that will carry on. In other countries, it's very normal to stay at home until you're married, whereas here it's a new thing… It's clear financial reasons are underlying a lot of people's decisions to move home... If people lost their jobs they were more likely to move home. Relationship breakdowns are another big driver - perhaps the emotional support is as important as the economic."

Dr Stone's research with Professor Ann Berrington and Professor Jane Falkingham at CPC finds that boomerangers can be broadly divided into two groups - "the people who choose to move home quite actively and those for whom it's more of a chaotic pathway back. They haven't actively chosen it - it's just the best option available."

To find out more about CPC research in this area, see our section on 'Leaving and returning home in the UK'.

Posted 20/10/2014 14:52