If you don’t want to live at home with your parents in your 20s, Saskatchewan may be the place to be.

Moving out of your childhood home was once seen as a right of passage, but these days a large percentage of Canadians are remaining with their parents well into their 20s.

According to a Statistics Canada study, of the 4.3 million Canadians aged 20 to 29, 42 per cent live with their parents. Saskatchewan has the lowest percentage of 20-somethings living at home, with only 30 per cent, a far cry below Ontario at 51 per cent. One reason for this may be cost of living, according to Anne Milan, author of the study.

“We didn’t specifically look at reasons as to why adults are living with parents. It is higher in areas with higher cost of living and it could be opposite where the proportions are lower,” Milan said. 

In 1981, only 19 per cent of Saskatchewan’s 20-somethings lived at home. 

“Even though Saskatchewan is low among the provinces, it still also increased since 1981,” Milan said. 

The economy also plays a part in how many young people live at home past the age of 20, including in Saskatchewan. 

“There is a higher proportion of young adults who are at home and unemployed,” Milan said. “It could be living with parents is an important resource for them.”

The poor economy can also mean that adults living with parents may be more about helping the parents than the child.

“It is also true that support goes in both directions,” Milan said. “Young adults could be helping their parents with tasks as well, even if it is not a financial contribution always.”

For some, the feeling of living at home can have a stigma attached to it, often related to maturity. Milan states that grown children living at home has been an issue going back decades though.

“It is interesting when I was researching this paper, there is a census document from the 1930s and it had some concerns about young adults staying at home,” Milan said. “I think it has been a concern for a very long time and a topic of interest. I think it goes to show it is not a new phenomenon and it has been around even with proportions increasing.”

Data for the study came from 2011, so percentages may change in 14 months when the latest census figures are released.

“It did increase quite consecutive from 1981 to 2006,” Milan said. “In 2011, it was lower than 2006. To say what is going to happen, we will have to wait and see.”