40 pct of young adults in U.S. live with family: analysis

Nearly 40 percent of young adults in the United States opted to live with their family in 2015 -- the highest percentage in 75 years, a recent analysis has found.

The analysis, conducted by real estate tracker Trulia, showed that 2015 witnessed the largest share of Americans aged 18-34 choosing to live at home with a parent, sibling or other relative since 1940, a year after the end of the Great Depression.

In fact, this is a continuation of decade-long trend which has showed no signs of reversing. According to the Christian Science Monitor, there are a number of economic factors that have been keeping young Americans from living on their own, which include rising rents, flat or falling wages, growing student debt, and difficulty in finding jobs.

However, sociologists suggest there could be societal benefits, including a rising number of young adults persuing higher education and an increase in the average age for first-time marriages.

"Economic pressure are closely related to delayed household formation, but the trend toward later marriage and more education has been going on for decades, largely driven by the increased opportunities and independence for women, " Philip Cohen, a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, was quoted as saying.

"So what looks like prolonged adolescence and disengaged couch-surfing is also a story of increased opportunity and independence for some people in the long run," he added. Endi