Nests Not Emptying

Some numbers from the Financial Times:

The percentage of men ages 25 to 34 living in their parents' home rose from 14 percent in 2005 to 19 percent in 2011.

In the U.S. the proportion of people age 30 to 34 living with their parents has grown by 50 percent since the 1970s, and the recession has only made things worse. In 2010, over 5.5 million young adults moved back home with their parents, a 15 percent increase from 2007. 

You see a lot of hand-wringing about this from the people who enjoy fretting about the young people's morals, but the explanation is straightforward: the ratio between the average starting salary and the cost of an apartment has plummeted. I used to rent a cozy apartment in a safe part of Minneapolis for $300 a month, and good luck finding a deal like that anywhere in America now. Not to mention that right now unemployment for 18 to 29-year-olds is 19%.