“Recession Brings Many Young Adults Back to the Nest”

The report finds that while the recession has touched Americans of all ages, it has been espeically hard on young adults. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 46.1 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds are currently employed -- the smallest share ever recorded since the government began collecting such data in 1948.

The report, producted by the Pew Research Center, finds that the hard economic times are particularly affecting the family patterns of young adults. Approximately 15 percent of adults younger than 35 say they have postponed getting married because of the recession, and an additional 14 percent say they have delayed having a baby. According to studies conducted by Pew, 13 percent of parents with grown children say one of their adult sons or daughters has moved back home in the past year. Data also suggests that proportionately fewer young singles are living solo now than before the recession, with particularly steep declines among young women.

Data is based on the Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey, conducted each March by the Census Bureau, and a nationally representative survey of 1,028 adults conducted in October 2009 by the Pew Research Center. Results from the survey are used to produce estimates of changes in living arrangements and other actions taken by individuals in response to the recession.

Read the report.