12:15pm EST | Mary Ann Murphy, Associate Professor, Cross-appointment on Aging (School of Social Work) and Sociology Program (Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences)

TOPIC – Census data shows more young adults opting to live with mom and dad in 905 regions.

INFO – From thestar.com:

“IT seems those suburban homes sprawled across the 905 regions are big for a reason — their childhood bedrooms and converted basements are packed with “kids” in their 20s still living at home.

More than 75 per cent of 20- to 29-year-olds in GTA municipalities such as Richmond Hill, King City, Pickering, Vaughan and Caledon are still living with their parents, according to newly released census data.

That’s considerably more than the 56.3 per cent of 20-somethings who are still living at home in Toronto — and the 42.3 per cent across Canada — the 2011 census shows.

But the 905 nesting phenomenon appears to be far more cultural and financial than that old cliché of boomerang kids failing to launch.

University of British Columbia professor Mary Ann Murphy is more concerned about what she calls “delayed adulthood.” The 2011 census revealed just 30.8 per cent of young adults are likely to be part of a couple, compared to 51.8 per cent in 1981.

“We’ve got failure to launch, we’re delaying marriage, we’re delaying parenthood,” said Murphy, who specializes in issues around aging. “What are the future implications for these older parents who have young children. As they get into their senior years, they may be 70-something with children at home,” she said”

 

BIO – Mary Ann Murphy, Ph.D. (Health and Social Policy) has been a member of the School of Social Work since 1992, and chaired the BSW Program as it became the first school of social work in Canada to receive a full seven-year accreditation on its first application. For the past few years, she has developed the first undergraduate Aging Concentration in a School of Social Work in Canada.