The boomerang kids

I read this article in the Boston Globe and know exactly what they're talking about. The best is when they move home, with kids.

Gone are the high school pictures, the teddy bears, the single bed of Becky Gorman's youth. She now has college and travel photos on the walls, books instead of bears, and a queen size bed. But the purple-flowered wallpaper from middle school remains, and she is once again sharing a bathroom with her younger brother.

Gorman, 27, has moved back into the Wellesley house where she grew up. Ditto for Michael, 23. There are many reasons they're in their childhood home: their new business, the bad economy, the high rents. Nine months ago they started their own clothing line, Mahi Gold. They need to save every cent they can, and living with their parents rent-free has allowed them to do that.

"I have a lot of friends who can't believe that I could live at home," Becky says. "My typical response is that it doesn't bother me, but certainly in an ideal world I'd have my own place."

The days when college graduation automatically meant getting a job and an apartment are endangered. With the US economy in a nosedive, jobs scarce, and rents high, "boomerang kids" head for home, where the living is easy. There are no firm numbers yet on the impact of the current recession, but those who study the younger generation say that empty nests are starting to fill back in.

Boston Globe - Full Story