She is not the exception; she is the norm.
In 1997, the most common living arrangement for an adult aged between 18 and 34 was being in a couple with children, according to the Resolution Foundation think tank. Now, it is living with your parents.
Lisa Griggs is one of them. Like Jess, she is 32, working full-time and frustrated.
“I still feel like a child,” she says, albeit one who pays rent to her parents.
“I do not have any debts, I live within my means, yet I am still unable to purchase anything close to my family and close to my work.”
Both say they are extremely fortunate to have the support of their families.
But the BSA says, as home ownership among the young continues to shrink, dependency on parents does not stop there. The Bank of Mum and Dad is commonly helping to pay their grown-up children’s deposits.
Half of first-time buyers in their 20s are getting help of an average of £25,000 from their parents, according to the Resolution Foundation.
The BSA says that is often money which had put aside by the older generation for their own security during retirement.
Jess says she sat down with her parents to draw up a savings plan the moment she moved in. Lisa, who has been saving for eight years, says she is “surrounded by spreadsheets”.
