Struggling to get your Millenial out of the home? Here's why

The tradition of moving out, spreading your wings, and buying your own home is a necessary part of growing up. As such, most people develop a sense of pride in this tradition and consider moving back home with their parents as a form of social failure. At least, as conventional wisdom may hold.

Millennials, also dubbed with the quirky pejorative "generation rent" are increasingly bucking these social norms. Some choosing to rent rather than purchasing property, while others wavering the entire process completely, and choosing to stay home with their parents.

One has to ask oneself - why are we seeing such a shift in cultural norms? Is it truly because millennials are somehow inherently lazy? Or is there more to this narrative? Ahead, in this article, we'll attempt to reach a more grounded conclusion.

Background to the term "millennials"

Since the 1880s we've categorised various generations based on rapidly changing cultural paradigms of the great depression, two world wars, and the rise of the nuclear age. Millennials are categorised as a social generation cohort born between the years 1981 and 1996 (named for the generation to inherit the turn of a millennium).

Generation breakdown

Bear in mind that these are based on western archetypes. Eastern traditions and some parts of Europe have differing standards.

• Lost Generation - 1883 - 1900
• The Greatest Generation - 1901 - 1927
• The Silent Generation - 1928 - 1945
• The Baby Boomers 1946 - 1960
• Generation X (GenX) 19
• Generation Y (Millennials) 1981 - 1996
• Generation Z (Zoomers) 1997 - 2012
• Alpha Generation (Children of Millennials) 2013 - present

If you are interested in learning more about the history of generational breakdowns then click here

A generation in a perceived crisis

Each generation has faced unique challenges which have defined their overall perceptions of culture and society. For millennials, the most immediate challenges stem from economic factors. These are driven by the onset of two recessions in a single lifetime and right at the age where most of them are just starting their prospective careers.

Millennials are also expected to change their careers once every ten years. In a world where career longevity is drastically dwindling and experts suggest that inflation rates are only making the situation worse.

This, coupled with the exponential growth in technology means that traditional manufacturing, adminstartive and even retail positions that their parents would start with are quickly growing obsolete. A move towards a more service orientated industry and automation has created a shift in these paradigms.

So while the definition of a career transferred from artisanal type jobs to the corporate sphere, the demand for high-level expertise went from a commodity to a necessity. Rather than entering the working world straight after high school like their parents, countless millennials had little choice but to enter into serious debt and further their education instead.

A solution born from necessity

As a result of all these growing challenges, 1 in 5 millennials have quickly chosen to stay at home with their parents with some even making the choice indefinitely. Yet the solution does not necessarily paint a bleak picture as both generations have found that there are benefits to thriving as a family unit rather than apart.

1 - Shared cost of living means more money in the bank

Just because they're staying at home it doesn't mean they're jobless either. One of the more obvious benefits of living with parents is that they're able to properly supplement their cost of living for once!

2 - Taking responsibility for home maintenance

While every family and home situation is different, the combined talents of multigenerational households mean that millennials are quickly taking over the chores and home tasks their parents are no longer able to or are no able to delegate to their young adult children

3 - Career flexibility

This last point is perhaps the most beneficial overall since many people are forced into holding onto jobs they cannot afford to lose. With the advent of declining job stability, Millennials are granted more flexibility to try out multiple positions should they choose to stay home.

Kicking the can down the road

While it's true that Millennials are choosing to stay home out of a necessity rather than preference, the overall long term effect of pushing back property investment can drastically hurt one's chances of accruing future wealth.

A recently referenced study finds that young adults who move out of home between the ages of 24 and 34 are statistically less likely to purchase property within the next ten years than their earlier counterparts. The less overall mortgage debt does not put them in any better financial position for owning property.

Property investment has been viewed as one of the key assets to assuring a secured future because property values tend to increase over the years. The truth is that millennials are hurting their chances of future success the longer they put off homeownership.

A future of uncertainty

While it is true that there are both benefits and shortfalls to staying home longer than previous generations, it is far too early to properly assess the long term effects of this change in generational goals. One thing is for certain, every future generation will most likely have to face an entirely new set of challenges and like the ones before, find new and innovative ways to overcome them.