One in three young men at home

More than one in three men aged 20 to 34 in the UK were living with their parents in 2024, the highest share in the current Office for National Statistics release. (ons.gov.uk) The Office for National Statistics said 33.7% of men in that age group lived with parent(s) in 2024, compared with 22.1% of women. The updated “young adults living with their parents” dataset was released on April 17, 2026. (ons.gov.uk) The longer trend runs back years. Office for National Statistics data cited by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows the share of 25- to 34-year-olds living with parents rose from 13% in 2006 to 18% in 2024, after peaking at 21% during the Covid-19 pandemic. (ifs.org.uk) Institute for Fiscal Studies researchers said the increase has been concentrated among people in their late 20s, with the share of 25- to 29-year-olds living at a parental home rising from 20% to 28% between 2006-07 and 2023-24. The share for 30- to 34-year-olds changed little over the same period. (ifs.org.uk) Housing costs sit behind much of the squeeze. In England, private renters on a median household income would have had to spend 36.3% of income on an average-priced rented home in 2024, above the Office for National Statistics’ 30% affordability threshold. (ons.gov.uk) Buying has also stayed out of reach for many workers. In 2025, the median average home in England cost £300,000, or 7.6 times the median annual earnings of a full-time employee, according to the Office for National Statistics. (ons.gov.uk) Recent government survey data points the same way. The 2024-25 English Housing Survey said households faced rising inflation, higher interest rates and higher living costs during fieldwork, alongside “significant and substantial rises” in rent and mortgage payments. (gov.uk) The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the pattern is not uniform. Men, lower-income young adults and people from Bangladeshi backgrounds were more likely to live with parents, and increases were larger in places that saw faster house price growth after 2006. (ifs.org.uk) Living at home does not mean the same thing for every household. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said some young adults use it to save faster, reduce debts or build a deposit, while others stay because market rents and purchase costs leave few alternatives. (ifs.org.uk) The latest figures put a hard number on a delayed move-out age that has been building for nearly two decades. In the official 2024 snapshot, living with parents was no longer an edge case for young men in Britain, but a common housing arrangement. (ons.gov.uk)