Against the Stigma of Living With Your Parents as an Adult

In American culture, there’s still a lot of stigma around living with your parents as an adult, even if you’re contributing to the family unit financially. I think this stigma is slowly going away due to an increasing recognition of economic hardship, but its presence can certainly still be felt, especially with older people who might be out of touch. They assume that if you live with your parents beyond a certain age, you’re not independent, you’re not worthy of equal respect, you’re not a grown up, you can’t stand on your own two feet, that you’re a loser basically.

This stigma should not exist. It is beyond stupid that, to be treated as a respectable adult by some, you have to spend an outrageous portion of your paycheck on shelter while possibly trying to pay off expensive student loans as well. Consider who benefits from this extreme overemphasis on individualism…

Americans may be surprised to learn that this stigma isn’t present in many other parts of the world such as Asia, Africa, South America, and the rest of Latin America. I live in Mexico, where it’s common for adults to live at home until they find a partner. No one thinks less of you for it, and it makes a lot of sense:

• It’s easier to take care of your aging parents
• It’s easier to recruit help in the event of a medical emergency
• You have an emotional support system nearby
• You save money not paying rent / mortgage payments
• Resources can be pooled together (money, vehicles, appliances, skills, etc)
• Household chores can be divided so each person has less to do

I understand not everyone gets all these benefits from living with their parents. Everyone’s family situation is unique, it’s a trade-off in the end, and everyone makes their own individual calculation on whether to stay or go. I’m just pointing out that there are good reasons to live with your parents as an adult, this fact is obvious to much of the world, and it needs to be recognized more in the US.