Cost of living, university degrees lead to rise in "boomerang children": Aussie study

Australian researchers believe that rising costs and pressure of pursuing a university-grade education have led to a worldwide phenomenon known as "boomerang children."

Researchers from the University of Melbourne have been studying the increasing tendency of school leavers to return home after their first attempt at going it alone as an adult.

The authors of the study, which looked at almost two million people over the past 15 years, coined these returners "boomerang" or "failure to launch" children.

Although the reasons for their failure were varied, the researchers discovered the combination of university studies, cost of living and lack of employment often resulted in kids returning home.

Recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed the number of young Australian adults, aged between 18 to 34, still living with their parents was 29 percent, up from 21 percent in 1976.

However, Associate Professor Cassandra Szoeke, who oversaw the study, told the Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC) on Wednesday that the trend was not isolated to Australia.

"This is not just an Australian phenomenon," Szoeke said.

"In fact, across the entire Western world we are finding young adult children living with their parents much later than they were 20, 50 years ago."

Katherine Burn, the study's lead researcher, said family relationship often suffered if a child returned home or never had ambition to leave their humble abode.

"That tension in the expectations and the roles tends to lead to a lot of conflicts," Burn said on Wednesday.

"From the parents' perspective ... a lot of the issues come when they think their children are treating their home a little like a hotel."

Szoeke said parents had to do away with the stigma surrounding stay-at-home kids.

"People have thought if you're a boomerang child, it's a failure. In fact, even the American wording, failure to launch, implies there's a negative aspect," she said.

"I think as a society and culture we have to start talking about the fact that this is so prevalent. And I think in talking about it, things will improve." Endit