The age at which young teenagers want to strike out on their own has been fairly consistent between 1999 and 2018, and when we look at when young people actually head out into the big wide world, it hasn't shifted dramatically either. The mean age was 20.21 in 2011, rising to 20.68 in 2021.¹ And until 2016 it was pretty close to the age they said they wanted to leave home.

But then, out of the blue, in 2018/19, there's this sudden spike that left us scratching our heads. Are they feeling less confident about this transition into adulthood? Or is this a realistic assessment about the financial challenges of renting on a first-job income?

And ponder this for a minute… In 2021 young people were moving out of their parental homes at a much earlier age than the current generation of teenagers aspire to. How will this affect them as they grow up? And what about the 42.3% of 15-34 year-olds who were still cozying up at home with their parents in 2021 (compared to 34.7% back in 2000).¹ The big question mark here is whether these are young adults who spread their wings and came back or if they haven't left the nest at all.