CHICAGO — Natasha Giraldo shoved her possessions into half of her mother’s garage in June.
She quit her full-time teaching gig in Florida and moved back to Roselle, Ill., to be closer to her nieces, or so she told her mother at the time. When September rolled around and she still hadn’t found a new job, Giraldo confessed she had racked up $48,000 in credit card debt, largely in the six years she lived in Florida. And she had to acknowledge she couldn’t make it on her own.
What was supposed to be a temporary stay looks like it may be extended to next fall.
Giraldo, 33, is part of a bumper crop of young adults who have sought their old bedrooms as a recession-era refuge, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.
While the increase in so-called “boomerang” kids seems a rational response to the financial slump, the study found young adults also are putting their lives on hold during this downturn.
One in 10 adults between the ages of 18 and 34 said the poor economy has forced them to move back in with Mom and Dad, according to Pew. Another 12 percent scurried to find a roommate to scale down living expenses.
They’re altering their behavior in other ways too, according to Pew. About 15 percent of adults younger than 35 say they have postponed getting married because of the recession and 14 percent say they’ve put off having a baby.
“These aren’t slackers. These are people who are in transition, and their lives are on hold,” said Richard Morin, a senior editor at Pew and the study’s author.
The survey of more than 1,000 adults was taken nationwide in October. It was combined with Census Bureau data to show that while the recession has touched Americans of all ages, it was been especially hard on young adults.
Parents who have adult children under their roofs shouldn’t expect them to leave soon, said Morin.
Giraldo’s mother, Kathleen Ustick, 63, said she created her basement room for visiting grandchildren.
It’s hard for children to avoid viewing it as a step back in time, and experts say feelings of failure, depression and anxiety are common in such situations.
“It’s admitting that you screwed up,” Giraldo said. “But in these economic times, there’s no room for embarrassment.”
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
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