[quote=briansd1]I think that it could be a cost-of-housing-as-a-proportion-of-income kinda thing.
In areas or countries where housing consumes a large portion of income, kids will stay at home longer into adulthood out of necessity.[/quote]
Definitely. Back when I was in college, my roommates and I rented a 3/2 apartment for $710/mo in a working-class, but decent-enough part of town in L.A. We could swing that rent, even though we all had low-paying jobs. These days, the rent for that apartment would probably run around $1,600-$1,750 (or more). The catch? Wages for the types of jobs we had have gone nowhere in that time. Those wages have gone up *maybe* 40%-60% since then.
So, while everyone is applauding the miracle of house price appreciation (and the rent increases that tend to go with it), the truth is that the working class hasn’t really seen any appreciable wage increases for decades, and their purchasing power has dropped significantly, while the upper-income earners and asset owners have probably seen their “wealth” and/or buying power triple or quadruple since then. The wealth/income gap is now HUGE, and it’s only getting worse.
