PRINCETON, N.J., Feb. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. adults ages 24 to 34 who live at home with parents are significantly less likely to be "thriving" than counterparts not living at home, a survey found.
The Gallup Daily tracking interviews, conducted Aug. 7 to Dec. 29, asked adults age 5 and younger about their current living arrangements. Fourteen percent of those age 24 to 34 reported they lived at home with their parents.
Gallup classifies Americans as thriving, struggling or suffering, depending on how they rate their current and future lives on a ladder scale with steps numbered zero to 10. People are considered thriving if they rated their current lives a 7 or higher and their lives in five years an 8 or higher.
Previous Gallup polling showed young adults who lived at home were significantly less likely to be married, to be employed full time, and to have a college education than those the same age but don't live at home. Therefore, it is not surprising to find that those living at home are less likely to be thriving, Gallup said.
However, even after accounting for marital status, employment, education and a number of other demographic variables, those 24-34 and living at home are less likely to be thriving.
This suggests that while living with one's parents may have some benefits for young people who have not yet found their full footing in society, the net effect of living at home lowers young adults' perceptions of where they stand in life. Something about living at home appears to drive down young adults' overall life evaluations, Gallup said.
Younger adults ages 24 to 34 who lived at home generally did worse than those who did not live at home on five of the six domains of well-being -- life evaluation, physical health, emotional health, healthy behaviors and basic access to things that promote healthy living.
For the young adults living at home with their parents, the margin of error was 2 percentage points. For results based on the total sample of 1,076 adults ages 24 to 34 living at home with their parents, the margin of error was 4 percentage.
