Comprehension and Discussion Guide. 1. Why does the author claim that single and married young adults no longer choose to live away from their family home?

1. Why does the author claim that single and married young adults no longer choose to live away from their family home? What statistic data prove the point?

2. Was the situation different until recently? What are (were) adult young people motivated by when they leave their parental shelters and start living on their own?

to vie for independence; to hate restriction on one’s independence; to struggle to establish one’s own separate identity.

3. Analysts cite a variety of reasons for these changes in lifestyle. So what makes adult young people – single and married – stay on or in back, return to the nest?

housing problems: to depend on one’s parents for housing; skyrocketing housing costs; ridiculous to pay all that money for rent to have to keep/support one’s own modest household; to be economically pressed; to take out loans; to cover payments on smth; to save to buy smth; to admit to expensive tastes; to be forced into debts; not to be able to pay off the debts, loans; to find one’s wings clipped;

exorbitant expenses of an away-from-home education: to attend local schools; to commute to a nearby college;

moral, social, psychological: marriage age rising; “Home and its amenities particularly attractive to young people”; high divorce rate; marriage break-up; declining remarriage rate; emotionally vulnerable; emotionally battered; to feel miserable;

advantages of living at home with one’s parents: to need help; to give financial and moral security and moral support; to make the family closer; (to welcome) to have 3 generations in the same house; to make success of the arrangement.

4. Why do some psychologists believe that it is unhealthy for several generations of a family to live together for a long period of time?

to share the family home; to require adjustments for all/to require accommodation; to manage the delicate balancing; to involve compromise; to create stress; hassles over bathroom, telephone, privacy, etc.

single adult young people: difficult setup; to dislike/hate constant control, pressure, restriction on one’s independence (drinking, dating, friendships, home duties, relationships, etc.); to never really grow up; infantile; to have difficulty in achieving one’s own separate identity; wind up with a sense of inadequacy, defeat and failure;

married adult young people: to stir up tensions, hostility; to have three generations living in the same house. Why can it be a disaster sometimes? Provide your own arguments;

parents: aging parents; to return to the nest; put-upon parents; to make room for one’s adult children; to enjoy some financial and personal freedom; to find oneself bogged down with responsibilities.

Conclusion: (made by researcher Debra Umberson, University of Michigan) Living with children of any age involves compromise and obligation, factors that can be detrimental to some aspects of well-being. All children, even adult children, require accommodation and create stress.

5. How long should adult children live with their parents before moving on? What do most psychologists feel about lengthy homecomings? What alternative do they suggest?

brief visits; to work beneficially; a positive experience; to need help; to make much closer; to put out the welcome mat.

6. What are some of the situations that have caused the young adults in the article to return to their parents’ homes?

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