The not-so empty nest: Adult children are no longer moving out of home. But is it working?

Maria Holyoake was 18 when she left her family home in south-east England to live in a rental. Fast-forward three decades, and she and her husband now live in Sydney’s southern suburbs, along with their two adult sons, aged 21, and 19, who show no signs of leaving home.

It is a trend that is growing across Australia, in part due to rising cost-of-living and dwindling housing affordability.

Just last week, the head of Australia’s Productivity Commission Danielle Wood warned that Australia’s property market was becoming less accessible to young people, while decades of the housing market rising faster than incomes meant young people faced a bleak future when it came to housing affordability.

Domain’s latest rental report, released July 8, showed record-high rents across Australian capital cities and near-record low vacancies.

Sydney house rents surged 6.3 per cent ($50) in the June quarter to a record $850 per week, while the cost of renting a unit in Sydney increased by 4 per cent ($30) to a record $780 per week.

Sydney’s vacancy rate was unchanged compared to the same period last year and was at a record low.

McCrindle Research revealed recently that adult young Australians were living at home longer with their parents, with the most recent figures showing 70 per cent of Australians were still at home at the age of 19.

This compares to 2006, when 60 per cent of Australians aged 19 lived with their parents − an increase of 10 per cent in 15 years.

McCrindle blamed “high levels of student debt and a highly competitive housing market” for the changing dynamic, and said 65 per cent of Australians agreed that the traditional pathway to owning a home was broken for the next generation.

As a result, McCrindle said young people were “delaying traditional markers of adulthood” such as moving out of home. According to its research, three-in-five, or 57 per cent, said they were “open to or would welcome living in a multi-generational home with their family”.

And why wouldn’t they? With the arrangement often coming with added benefits such as cooked meals, a built-in cleaner and having your laundry done, often for free.

Maria told nine.com.au she was happy for her boys to stay at home “until they are ready to go”, adding it would feel strange for them not to be there.

“You do get to see them grow continuously, more so because they are at home,” she said.

“We might not have got that time otherwise. Every moment is precious. Things like getting up early in the morning to watch the World Cup together.

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“We watched those early morning games together, which might not have happened otherwise.”

Maria said her husband made the decision not to charge their sons board while they remained at home.

“He felt that because they were at uni, they shouldn’t pay,” she said.

Her eldest son is in his fourth year at university studying construction project management. He won a cadetship straight out of school, and juggles full-time work as a project administrator with study.

Meanwhile, the younger of the two has a casual job and is in his second year of an economics degree.

Maria said she did all the cooking, washing and ironing for their family of four.

“They have got a very easy life.”

Happy to have them

While young adults in Australia are in no hurry to move out, more parents are happy to have them − sometimes for good.

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The 2025 No Place Like Home report commissioned by Great Southern Bank found 23 per cent of parents said they would be happy for their children to stay at home forever.

When asked what age they thought their children should move out, the most popular answer was 25 (41 per cent), followed by 26 to 35 (33 per cent).

Only 2 per cent thought it was acceptable to stay home until the ages of 36 to 40, or 40 and over.

Delaying adulthood

McCrindle said the traditional linear path for young adults of moving out, renting and then later buying a home was shifting, and one of the biggest drivers was the property market, which was becoming less accessible to young people.

“Others who had previously moved out are returning to the family nest during their peak earning and family-forming years to pool resources and accelerate their savings for a housing deposit,” reports McCrindle’s Attitudes Towards Multi-generational Living report. 

The No Place Like Home report pointed to a broader shift in attitudes towards multi-generational living, with many families prioritising financial stability and long-term housing goals over traditional timelines for moving out. 

Maria said her eldest son planned to stay at home for four more years in order to save enough money to buy, and was not keen to move out and rent before then.

Cultural role

Maria said the situation in Australia was quite different to her family back in the UK.

“In England, when you went to uni, you didn’t stay at home. You moved out and lived on campus,” she said.

Of course, proximity to higher learning and employment was also a factor.

While young adults in Australian capital cities have greater access to universities and jobs, those in regional areas are more likely to move away from home for study or work.

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Multi-generational living

There is also another factor − Australia is a multicultural community, and in some cultures, young adults are more likely to stay at home.

McCrindle said almost half of Australia’s population had first-hand experience of mutli-generational living.

Thirty-two per cent have lived in a multi-generational home in the past, while 12 per cent do so now.

According to McCrindle, Australians who speak a language other than English at home are significantly more likely to have lived in a multi-generational household − 71 per cent compared with 39 per cent of English-only speakers.

Madhurima is 28 and lives at home with her mother and younger sister in Sydney’s south-west.

She works fulltime and pays all of the household bills while her mother covers the mortgage. Her younger sister is yet to start contributing.

She said it was more common for adult children to stay at home in south-east Asian cultures such as hers.

“It’s seen as strange and remarked upon if an adult child were to move out without having gotten married or for another valid reason, such as moving for a job or if you’re buying a home,” she said. 

“Rent is seen as a waste of money.” 

Downside of staying home

While it is becoming more common to stay home longer, McCrindle said 73 per cent of Australians said they would prefer to live in a smaller apartment with privacy rather than in a larger, multi-generational property.

Gen Z and Baby Boomers were more likely to crave privacy, (81 per cent and 79 per cent respectively).

Lack of privacy, lifestyle clashes, disagreements over household rules and elevated noise levels were identified as the biggest hurdles of living under one roof.

Meanwhile, the benefits include shared living costs, support for older family members, less loneliness, childcare assistance and stronger family relationships,

While privacy is a factor for some, Maria said they had their own space at home.

They usually eat dinner at different times, depending on their work schedules, and often retire straight afterwards to different corners of their home.

However, she said having them at home was certainly “more costly”.

“The food bill is a fair bit more. Not much more than when they were at school, but they are bigger boys now and they eat more.”

Then there are the holidays, with the boys still joining them on expensive overseas jaunts.

Not that Maria would have it any other way.