Empty nest? Maybe not for long as kids increasingly return home after college

50-Plus Marketing reports on a survey finding that (by MonsterTrak.com) 48% of 2006 graduates in the United States move back to their parents' home after graduation, and that 44% of 2005 graduates were still there. A similar pattern exists throughout Europe.

The 2005 Current U.S. Population Survey found about one-third of college graduates, aged under 24, now live with their parents -- nearly twice as many as did in 1970 and half of college students receive some form of financial aid from outside their families.

Why do US kids seem so loathe to ditch mom’s cooking?

* College costs have doubled since 1978 – in real terms.
* Difficulty getting a job. Approximately 80% of students on the eve of graduation do not have jobs.
* The pay for entry-level jobs has not kept pace with costs. The class of 2003 earned an average of $38,000 one year after graduation. This was only 50% percent more than the graduates of 1973.
* Booming house – it takes a lot of cash to get onto the property ladder.

The implications of this are far-reaching. On the positive side, a chance to meaningfully reconnect with children who will have likely undergone dramatic changes while in college. It is possibly the last opportunity to do this and to do it at a time when they are not wrought with teenage angst.

On the less-than-positive side, midlifers increasingly need to factor in a few more years for providing some sort of financial assistance for their children.