Young Adults’ Living Arrangements at Age 22: Evidence from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study

Young Adults’ Living Arrangements at Age 22: Evidence from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study

This research brief, released by The Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) and co-authored by CPSP researchers, examines the living arrangements of young adults today. Looking across all young adults, as well as, separately, those who have children of their own, it documents trends of whether young adults are living on their own, with unrelated adults, or with a spouse or partner, or whether they are still living with parents or other relatives. This brief is part of an FFCWS series on young adults at age 22, following an earlier brief examining patterns of employment, education, and disconnection. FFCWS is a joint effort by the Princeton University Bendheim-Thoman Center for Research on Child and Family Wellbeing and the Columbia Population Research Center.

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Key Findings

  • At age 22, two-thirds of young adults are living with their parents or other relatives, and this is true for both young men and young women. 
     
  • Among those not living with parents or other relatives, the most common arrangements are living with unrelated adults or living with a spouse/partner. Relatively few live with no other adults. 
     
  • Living arrangements at age 22 vary considerably by race/ethnicity. The share living with parents or other relatives is highest for Black and Hispanic young adults, and lowest for white young adults. 
     
  • About 10% of young adults are living with dependent children. This is more common for young women than for young men, and more common for Black and Hispanic young women than for white young women.
     
  • Among those who live with dependent children, living arrangements differ sharply by gender as well as race/ethnicity. Black young women with children are more likely to live on their own (with no other adults) than are their Hispanic or white peers.
     
Learn More on Future of Families Study

The study is a joint effort by Princeton University’s Bendheim-Thoman Center for Research on Child and Family Wellbeing and the Columbia Population Research Center.

The Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study is a long-running collaborative birth cohort study, which has followed a large and diverse sample of children since their births in 1998 to 2000. The children were born in 20 large cities but now reside all over the United States. When weighted, the study provides data that is nationally representative of young adults born in large cities and as such is the only nationally representative sample of a contemporary cohort of young adults followed longitudinally since birth.

Suggested Citation:

Jung, Hye-Min, Megan Curran, and Jane Waldfogel. 2025. Young adults’ living arrangements at age 22: Evidence from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Princeton, NJ: The Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study. 

Published on March 26, 2025