Canadian Kids Live Longer With Mom and Dad as Home Costs Soar

(Bloomberg) -- The rising cost of housing in Canada is having at least one major impact on the make-up of families: fewer kids are leaving home.

The share of Canadians aged 20 to 34 who were living with a parent has increased to 34.7 percent, according to census data released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday. That's up from 33.3 percent in the last census five years earlier and from 30.6 percent in 2001.

The share of young adults living at home was highest in Ontario, at 42.1 percent. In Toronto, almost one in every two young adults lives with mom or dad (47.4 percent).

Not surprisingly, basement living means Canada's youth are starting families at a later age. The share of young adults living with their own families has dropped to 41.9 percent in 2016, from 49.1 percent in 2001. Those living with children fell to 25.5 percent from 32.9 percent in 2001.

Another sign that the cost of housing is changing how Canadians live is the growing share of multi-generational households. Households with at least three generations of the same family has been the fastest growing type of household since 2001, growing 38 percent over that time.

It's not all housing. The changing composition of households also reflects other developments such as immigration. Kids in Toronto have always been more likely to live at home than elsewhere in Canada.

“The high proportion of young adults living with their parents in Ontario is most likely the result of a combination of economic realities, including the high cost of housing, and cultural norms that favor young adults living with their parents for longer,'' Statistics Canada said in a report.

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Hertzberg in Ottawa at eschmitzhert@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Theophilos Argitis at targitis@bloomberg.net, Stephen Wicary