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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Arielle Domb

More gen Z men live with parents in this city than anywhere in the US. How do they date?

A young man sits on a motorbike in a home garage
Daniel, a 25-year-old union worker who lives in his parents’ suburban house in Vallejo: ‘I don’t know one couple that has bought a house and started a family out here.’ Photograph: Arielle Domb/The Guardian

Are boys becoming men later? In recent decades, the markers of adulthood have shifted for young American men: they are almost twice as likely to be single, less likely to go to college and more likely to be unemployed. Most significantly for their parents, they are also less likely to have fled the nest, with the term “trad son” springing into social media lexicon in recent months. In the 1970s, only 8% of Americans aged 25 to 34 were living with their parents, but by 2023, that figure had jumped to 18%, with men more likely to live at home than women, according to a Pew survey.

But not everywhere in the US has the same rates of adults living in their familial home. The living arrangement is least common in the midwest and most common in the north-east. Topping the list was Vallejo, where 33% of young adults live with their parents. How were they making it work?

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