The ‘Full Nest’ costs parents £3.2bn each year in additional household expenditure

Parents with adult children living under their roof are spending £1,200 more than their Empty Nester counterparts each year on every day household expenditure, bringing the total annual cost of ‘Full Nest Syndrome’ in the UK to £3.2 billion.

Meet the Full Nesters, a new report published by the Scottish Widows think tank Centre for the Modern Family, delves into the financial, practical and emotional strain placed on parents who are providing room and board for their adult offspring, and explores the impact this is having on the modern family dynamic.

With the latest figures showing that more than a quarter of adults between 20-34 are still living at home, and a fifth (19%) of students are opting to stay at home while studying, the ‘Boomerang Kid’ phenomenon is increasingly morphing into a ‘Never Fledged Generation’ – those for whom the high cost of living and accommodation means they are unable to fly the nest even for a short time.

The financial sacrifices of full nesters

To cope with the additional cost ofhaving their adult children living at home for longer, the report finds that Full Nesters are making greater financial sacrifices than Empty Nesters across the board, with some putting their own financial future at risk. One in three (31%) have cut spending on vital items such as groceries, compared to 21% of empty nesters, while 16% have needed to take out a loan, spent on credit cards, or gone overdrawn, against 7% of empty nesters. A third (30%) of Full Nesters report they are contributing less to their savings, while more than one in four (28%) are spending their savings to meet the cost of everyday living.