What's the oldest age you ever lived at home with your parents?

I'm 25 and still at home.

Rent costs more than a mortgage would but it is hard to get a mortgage. House prices ballooned as I was leaving collage (18) so missed the boat with that now they are coming down and I recon I will be out in the next year.

All my friends who are my age or younger still live with thier parents, friends who have had children have houses given to the by the social.

In reading through this thread I noticed that all the responses were from children so I thought I would share a parent's prospective on this. My disclaimer: I have two children still at home in 7th and 4th grades so I have no direct experience with the situation. But I have watched a lot of friends deal with this and observed different approaches first hand.

One of the things I have noticed about raising kids these days is that we no longer allow them to fail on their own. My kids are at an expensive private school where most of the parents intervene or assist if it means kids will have a better academic record or opportunities to compete in sports. They do whatever they can to make sure their kids succeed in whatever they try. In my view allowing children to live at home well into their 20s is sort of an extension of this mentality of protecting kids from failure.

It is my job as a parent to make sure my kids are prepared to take on adult responsibility. That means ensuring they have a good education and job skills and know how to manage their finances. It also means they learn to be independent, resourceful, and resilient - skills that will serve them throughout life as they face unexpected challenges. These "soft" skills are at least as important as the more tangible ones and to some extent they can only be learned through experience and even failure. There are just things they need to learn on their own.

Would my kids feel less stress and be more financially secure if they knew they could stay at home as long as they liked? I'm sure they would. But the 20s is the time young adults need to figure out what they want, how to set goals and follow through without anyone prodding them, how to balance relationships, finances, work, etc. It's also the time to experiment a little with personal beliefs and lifestyles without their parents influence. And perhaps most importantly, they need to learn how to deal with failure and stress so they will be able to succeed later in life. It is my personal view that parents that allow their kids to live at home too long may actually put them at a disadvantage relative to others their age that have had more opportunities for personal growth. The 30s is not the time to still be figuring out how to be a grown up when everyone else has moved on.

Will I force my kids to move out when they reach a certain age? It's hard to say until I'm in that situation but it is my intent to apply pressure if necessary. I don't want them to be too comfortable depending on me and their mother. There just comes a time in everyone's life when they need to make their own decisions and be responsible for them. I'm sure plenty will disagree with me - every parent has to figure out what their own comfort level is when it comes to their kid's independence.

The way it is wrote:

The truth of the matter is that leaving your family is a disease. One which America has in spades.

It is vastly more healthy, natural, strong and mature to have multi-generational families than the absurd one or two adult households that we now have in America.

I live in Miami and have seen this multi-generational setup in Latin households. The men are treated like kings by their mommies and then, when they get married, they expect their wives to treat them the same. It's pretty amazing to watch.

To answer the question, I lived at home for 4 months after college and moved out 3 months after my 23rd birthday. I got a job 45 minutes from home and saved a lot of money. My parent and I have a good relationship and they are well off...so i didn't see the harm.

I wanted to move out of course, but I knew that if anything my parents liked having me there, so i didn't feel any less like a man by living with them. I had a good job, and saving by living with them allowed me to buy a house of my own sooner than I would otherwise.

Living alone for prides sake is dumb, as is doing anything out of pride. Sure, do it for yourself if you want to be independent, but realize something...no one else gives a shit.

Uh, okay. Notice he said "poor". I don't know what part of the world you live in, but to me, if someone is poor, it means he is unable to house or feed himself, not living in a dinky apartment. Just because you are grown does not mean you will never need help in life, and I don't think staying with your parents means you're making it "all about you".

I guess this trends more into the philosophical aspect of things, but for all of you who are so proud of your bold independence, what did you do to earn being intelligent? Was it a life choice you made? Yes, a person does not have to be highly intelligent to be successful or even at the most base level self-sufficient, but it certainly makes it easier. Tell me, how many of you worked really hard in the womb to be able to problem solve well?

Me? I plan on getting a job as soon as possible after graduating college so I can be self-sufficient. I want to be able to rely on myself because my parents were fantastic raising me and supporting me and deserve their own space now. That doesn't mean my relationship with them is terminated when I move out, either. Ultimately, though, I'm not so prideful or arrogant to think that everyone was born as fortunate as me in life. Some of the traits that are key to success can't be earned.

I think one poster put it best when he said (paraphrased) "just because it has been done doesn't mean it can be done by everyone." Yes, there are lazy people who mooch off their parents, but there are also people who are hard working, diligent folks who have just fallen on hard times and need a lending hand - which, as I understand it, is what family is for. But some of you are quick to forget the natural or environmental gifts you've been given. Just don't be so quick to judge one way or another, is my feeling on this subject.

Those of you who are bragging about not living at home after 18 better not be the same people whose parents sent them to private schools at $20k/year from grade school to university and whose parents give them help with the down payment on the house.

Living on your own after 18 is a relatively new thing in human history. Maybe we'll go back to living with our parents when the U.S. population is 600 million and most people don't have a good pension or healthcare.

Moved out earlier this year aged 22. Would have been last September at 21 but my big 4 graduate job got put back till March and rent is incredibly expensive in London so waited the extra few months. It was okay, wouldn't have wanted to do it for much longer though.

Small chance I'll move back in again for around a year in 5-10 years time if I do an MBA at the local uni (which trust me ain't as bad as it sounds - local uni has a pretty solid rep) but realistically by that point I think I'd want my own place.

In all seriousness, do those of you that live with your parents at age 25, engage in intercourse in your parents home.

18

Early 50's. Let me explain. I accepted a JC XC/Track Scholarship at 18 and moved out. Dropped out after one year to work full time and enroll at a PAC-10 4 year. Worked, ran (club team) and finished with a BS @ Oregon. Jobs, marriages, races. Everything followed. Had it all, lost it all: same song. At age 50 I moved in with my parents to help them with their lives. My Father has early Parkinson's, so I drive and walk him wherever he needs. My Mother is late stage Alzheimer's so I oversee her daily care with a nurse and handle all estate and insurance functions. When I say estate, there is very little money left of any investments. I do, however, get out and run almost every day. It's the one thing that's always been there for me. It doesn't matter if you're proud to leave home @ 16 or 26. Why Are You Leavng? If it's to make a statement to your friends how cool you are, who are your friends? I chose not to be a burden on society and my family.

Well I was 18, but if I had it to do over again I would have dropped out of at 16 join the military (I am an old guy, it was possible back then) then get out, get my ged, and go to college on the GI bill.

I think those years from 16-18 were very hard on my relationship with my folks. I was rebellious, irresponsible & an ass those two years, but once I got out on my own I totally got down to business.

I think we need to figure out ways to stop the trend towards ever-extending childhood.

old beard wrote:

I think we need to figure out ways to stop the trend towards ever-extending childhood.

It's not a trend. It's what's normal in many societies. It's what used to be normal in the US when everybody worked on farms up until 1900.

me too. i was in the crotch for 4 from 16 to just shy of 20. after seps 20 we moved back in w my parents so my mom & aunts could take care of our two kids while my wife & were at jc. at 22 my wife & i got into 4 yr college my prof got me a paid internship close to school in pvt industry so we moved to an apt on frat row. this was during hippies/civil rights and we were right in the thick of it all. i was anti-war to the max. still am.

I'm 38 and now my parents live at my house. Does that count? I left their house at 18.

doesnt count wrote:

old beard wrote:

I think we need to figure out ways to stop the trend towards ever-extending childhood.

It's not a trend. It's what's normal in many societies. It's what used to be normal in the US when everybody worked on farms up until 1900.

I don't know about that. My own great grandparents got married at around 14 (would have been in the late 1800's). They started up a farm & lived happily ever after. Those were the days when the US was running 'land offices' and doling out cheap land to try to fulfill 'manifest destiny.'

Read a biography of Thomas Edison. He was pretty much out on his own around age 12-13, selling newspapers, writing, etc. IIRC he became a newspaper editor at a fairly young age, like around 16.

questionerer wrote:

In all seriousness, do those of you that live with your parents at age 25, engage in intercourse in your parents home.

So this was the bump question.

Teenagers tend to figure this out, so it's the same at age 25.

Easier, of course when you have your own place.

Now that I have my own kids in the house, it puts a damper on it again.

All those responses about not preparing to be a responsible adult if you stay with your parents too long is all crap.

But chicks do dig guys with their own place.

If there's a solid reason to move out, that's it.

Moved out after college. Moved back in after I got married because the place we rented had mice running all over and wife was pregnant. Stayed for a couple of months while looking for a new place to rent.

I kind of agree that the best reason to move out is because chicks dig a guy with his own place.

Otherwise, if you're living at home with your rents and contributing to the household in a meaningful way - at any age - I really don't see the big deal. It seems like most people want to move out simply because of the stigma attached to it.

To the parents who are staunchly opposed to kids being at home for a long time: I hope you're not going to be hypocrites and expect your kids to be there for you when you are old, crappy, and have a difficult time managing life on your own.

Moved back in at 22 in March, at my parent's suggestion, because the alternative was (it seemed at the time) having absolutely no human interaction for an indeterminable length of time due to COVID.

I'll be moving back out in Sep (age 23), and as much as it's been lovely seeing a family who I am very close to, I don't anticipate ever moving back in.