According to a recent study by the US Census Bureau, one-third of young people aged 18 to 34 still reside with their parents. That’s about 24 million people and as shocking as that seems, the study also revealed that at least one in four (of that 24 million who live with their parents), are not enrolled in college, nor do they have a job. (https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2017/08/young-adults.html)

Society has been through a lot of changes over the past couple of decades.   Just back in 2005, the majority of young people lived independently, they also got married earlier in life and had higher incomes. Economics aside, what has caused so many young adults to choose this new lifestyle of continuing to live in their parents’ house, rather than strike out alone like countless previous generations?  It may have something to do with ever more permissive parenting trends over the past 20 years, or it just may have something to do with societies shifting what constitutes the definition of an adult.

Empowering Parents dot com says; “Some adult children are slower to mature than others. Developmentally, they’re just not ready to take care of themselves, so they end up at home”.  https://www.empoweringparents.com/article/adult-children-living-at-home-how-to-manage-without-going-crazy/ They go on to say that many parents of adult children have been “over-functioning” for them.  They define over-functioning as not allowing their adult child to take responsibility for things that the child should be able to do for themselves. In other words, this type of parent is not letting junior “grow up”.

Over-functioning by protective parents is not always the case.  Sometimes the adult child can have a legitimate debilitating fear or deeply rooted misconception buried deep in their subconscious which prevents them from taking on the risks associated with striking out on their own.

The subconscious is where fears and automatic reactions are generated.  Getting into the subconscious, accessing the information there and getting the necessary insight (that the adult child needs to be able to shift their perception and to want their independence) is something that a good 5 Path Hypnotist is trained to do. Its’ frequently not what is holding back the adult-stay-at-home-child, but what they are holding onto deep in the subconscious which is preventing them from reaching their potential as an independent adult.

That said, sometimes the best course of action is not to work with the adult child, but with one of the parents.  Parents need to learn to believe in their children and that means they have to let go of their fears.  You may be wondering what fears I am talking about here, well that can be different for each parent, but a common one is that something terrible will happen to their kids if they are not constantly there to protect them. 

There are many reasons why adult children live at home.  Not all of them are bad, but if you feel your child is living a diminished life in some way, or if your relationship with your partner or other family members are being affected negatively by the arrangement, then you may find that reaching out for help is the next reasonable option. 

I have helped many young adults on the way to their best, brightest and most independent future. If you’d like to know more, just book your free telephone consultation here on www.familyfirsthypnosis.com