Parents sending kids off to college should hold off on renovating that newly-spare bedroom: the majority of students will be heading back home after graduation, according to a recent MonsterTrak survey.
These "boomerang" children are now the norm, according to an Oct. 15 article in the Washington Post that said 60 percent of 2005 graduates planned on moving back home after graduation. And Census Bureau data indicates that "in 2003, 50 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds and 27 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds were living with their parents."
Tufts students are no exception to this trend. Laura DePalma (LA '05) is currently living at home in New Jersey while she works and saves money for graduate school.
"A lot of my friends who have graduated recently live at home - one is a med student at Tufts and is still living at home," DePalma said.
According to the Post article, the increase in students returning home after college may be due to the reduced stigma associated with living at home: it has become more socially acceptable than in decades past to move back in with parents.
But while reduced stigma may be one component, the major reason many college graduates move in with their parents is money.
"I took time off from more schooling because of finances and the fact that I didn't feel quite ready to go to school again," DePalma said. "So I decided to live at home because it was convenient and cheap. I'm saving money for school this way."
"We all think in a similar manner," DePalma added of her friends who are also living at home post-graduation. "It saves money, you don't cook your own food, etc...I think that's the appeal of living at home."
Shasta Jean-Mary (LA '05) is having a similar experience. Jean-Mary moved back to her Hillside, New Jersey home after graduation in May and now works in New York City.
"Although I do contribute money to pay some bills, I am saving a lot more money than I could have if I lived elsewhere," Jean-Mary said.
For some students, moving home provides time to look for work and apartments. "We moved here two days after graduation, [so] we didn't have time to look for jobs," Liz Baxter (LA '05) said. Baxter and her boyfriend, who also graduated from Tufts in May, have temporarily moved in with her parents in Minnesota - and she describes the experience thus far as "like a big sleepover."
"It was logistics, and it was time to save some money," Baxter said of her reasons for moving home. Baxter and her boyfriend plan on moving into their own apartment within the month.
Many recent graduates agreed that living at home can have many fringe benefits.
"The benefits - which did weigh heavily into my decision of living at home - are the free food, home cooking, no rent, free cable, free phone, free laundry, etc.," DePalma said.
Baxter also cited home cooking as a plus. "We both definitely gained weight since we've been here from eating my parents' cooking," she said.
But even though moving back home can have its benefits, it constitutes a drastic change from living independently at college. Child Development Professor and Department Chair Fred Rothbaum said that moving back home can be "a big adjustment."
"When you're home for a few days, you start falling back into old patterns," Rothbaum said. "I think it's much harder [when you're home for longer]: you tend to regress when you're put back in a situation associated with a much younger age. Your only model for [living at home] is [from] when you were younger."
Recent graduates' experiences are in line with Rothbaum's observation.
"It was really difficult when I first moved back, because I wanted to grow and explore more than I had in college," Jean-Mary said.
Parents of boomerang kids must also adjust to changes - not only the changes in their routines, but also the changes in their children. "People tend to ignore how much development goes from 17 to 22," Rothbaum said. "It's enormous - psychologically, emotionally, behaviorally. I think parents see that and respond differently, and I think children see their parents in a whole new light."
"My parents treated me as if I had not been away for four years," Jean-Mary said. "In college, you don't go out until 11 p.m. At home, I was still trying to be back by midnight so my parents wouldn't worry."
"It's not that they set a curfew, but while I was living under their roof, I felt as if I shouldn't try to act the same way I did in school," Jean-Marie added. "It's difficult to feel independent and like a young adult when you're living at home, enjoying free meals and laundry."
"[Parents] treat you like a kid again and you don't have your own personal space, so the main disadvantage is that you're not really independent anymore," DePalma agreed. "You feel almost trapped. So I figure once I have some extra money that I can spare on rent, I'm moving out."
DePalma had originally planned on living at home for two years and then heading to graduate school. "But I really don't like living at home, so I think I'm going to move in with a friend of mine as soon as I can," she said.
"The funny thing is, you think it's going to be amazing to be home and have all of those things to your advantage," she added. "But after about a month, you want to move out immediately."
