Over 50s despair as kids still at home aged 27

There is no doubt that many young adults have had it tough. However, spare a thought for their hard pressed parents as research from Saga Home Insurance has shown that around 3 million over 50s still have their adult children living at home with them.  The average age of these failed fledglings is 27.
 
While it may not be a surprise that parents aged 50-54 are the most likely to be housing their adult children (32%), one in six parents aged 60-64 say they are still providing a roof over their children's head - long after they had expected them to leave home.  It seems that some children are cramping their parents' style right up until they reach retirement age.
 
More than half of adult children have had a brief stint of independence before returning to their childhood home. While the most common reason people return home is finishing university, one in ten say that splitting from partners (10%) and saving for a deposit for their own house (9%) has forced them to move back in with their folks. This could explain why one in seven of these boomerang babies are aged between 31 and 40.
 
However, you have to feel for parents in the West Midlands, as half of those with adult children still at home, say their kids have never moved out (52%).
 
High house prices could be the reason why children linger longer in London. A fifth of parents say they still have adult children at home in the capital - more than anywhere else in the country. Children in the South West and East Midlands are the most likely to fly the nest as soon as possible, as just one in ten parents in these regions say they are still putting up their children (12%).
 
It seems that richer parents are pushing their kids on to the property ladder, as wealthy people are the least likely to have adult children living at home (14%). Whereas children from less well-off families are the mostly likely to stay put (20%).
 
Despite most people owning mobile phones, laptops and other expensive gadgets, more than half of parents haven't updated their home insurance to include all their children's belongings after they have returned home.
 
Roger Ramsden, chief executive, Saga Services commented: "Encouraging children to start saving for their first home when they're younger could be high on most parents' agendas after reading this research. With so many children choosing to stay at home longer, it just proves that a parent's work is never quite done and that they will foot the bill for far longer than they originally expected to."