Living away at college has many perks such as staying up late, decorating your apartment with empty liquor bottles and being surrounded by your friends all the time.

Being on your own gives you a chance to avoid the intruding questions like, “Did you study enough for your midterm?” or, “How late are you going to be out?” and “Are you really going to eat that for breakfast?”

Having full freedom over your life may sound great but as the “freshman 15” starts to turn into the “senior 20” and your bank account starts suffering from rent payments, you realize that being at home might not be such a terrible thing.

“Living at home during that awkward ‘I just graduated college, but don’t have a job yet’ phase really comes in handy,” said Rebecca Garner, a DePaul graduate. “Life is chaotic, but I found that moving home after graduating was one of the best decisions I made because it helped me feel like I was standing on solid ground.”

According to the Washington Post, 29 percent of people today, between the ages of 25 to 34, move back home with their parents at one time or another.

This generation has become known as the “boomerang generation” because parents throw their adult kids out into the world and they usually end up coming back full circle.
Steven Mintz, Columbia University professor and Washington Post columnist, blames the economy for this boomerang effect.

“The pay gap between college grads and everyone else has been widening steadily. And even among degree-holders, the best jobs usually go to those who can afford post-graduate training or an unpaid or low-paid internship or training period,” said Mintz.

Living at home opens doors for students and postgraduates to gain the experiences they need to become successful in their field. It gives them a chance to try many different career paths with internships before applying for their first real job. People are free to experiment and make mistakes without the constant burden of living expenses.

“I am currently at home and I am enjoying watching my bank account not getting washed away by rent,” said Nicole Donnelly, a DePaul graduate. “I am looking forward to moving out and feeling a sense of independence knowing I can support myself.”

MonsterCollege.com, a mentoring job site for college graduates, took a poll and came up with the top five reasons to live at home.

Number one: the price is right. Living at home lets you take time to save money and make a good dent in your student loans; living alone with loans is a life with a huge price tag. So instead of having to spend your dollars on toilet paper and your quarters on laundry, you can start saving.

Number two: living at home gets you away from mac n’ cheese, ramen noodles and Spaghetti O’s. Mom’s home cooking will not only save your waistline, but will also give you some good comfort food. A better well-balanced diet can help in any situation.

Reasons number three, four and five all contribute to the fact that home is where you know people.

At home there are people you can trust, home maintenance problems (like a clogged sink) are taken care of and most of all there is a 24/7 support system for you.

Getting towards the end of college is a very stressful time and it helps to have people around you can trust. With all this said and done, living at home does take some work and getting used to. Parents might want to go back to the old days when their children had to borrow the car and be home by curfew.

It always helps to give parents a chance to get to know their adult child by setting some ground rules and coordinating schedules.

Living at home is an adjustment for all parties including the parents, so realizing that everyone has to adjusting helps.

“The young people who will do best are those who do not leap out of the nest too soon,” said Mintz.