House Sharing
A growing number of people are SHARING homes. In fact, about 1-in-5 North American households are shared households. That’s the term the Census uses when adults - who are not in school – choose to move in with their family, or roommates, instead of living on their own. Experts say historically, shared households were common with people in their twenties, who were just starting their adult life. But today, they’re more common with people in their thirties, too.
In fact, statistics show that half of the adults who moved into someone else’s house in recent years were between 25 and 34 years old.
Researchers say the economy is behind this trend, because with so many people struggling to find a job, or pay bills, it makes sense to share expenses.
Economists say the shared household trend is bad news for the housing market, because it means fewer people are looking to buy homes. But it could ultimately be good news for the rest of the economy, because without a mortgage to worry about, people will have more to spend on things like computers, clothing, and cars.
