You Can Go Home Again
By George Anderson
Just when parents think their kids have left the nest for good, the phone rings or the doorbell announces that one of the kids, now an adult, is home to stay for an indefinite
period of time.
This scenario has become increasingly common in recent years as a variety of factors including rising unemployment, high housing costs, divorce, etc. have brought sons and daughters
back home in growing numbers. It has been estimated, according to a recent piece in the Christian Science Monitor, that more than 12 million people between the ages of 20 and
34 in the United States have moved back home to live with the folks.
The adjustment for parents and children can be profound and it’s not unusual for old roles to be taken up again. Blane Bachelor tells of one déjà vu moment he had
after moving back home at the age of 26. “I hadn’t heard my mom’s dreaded threat: ‘We’re going to eat up everything in this kitchen before I go shopping again!’ since high school.”
Moderator’s Comment: How has and is the rise of non-traditional households changing retailing? [George
Anderson – Moderator]