Over the last 40 years western society has become increasingly affluent and the expectation that young adults can and will move out and afford a place of their own has become a social norm.

Both societal expectation and peer pressure have played a role in stigmatizing the practice of living at home. Despite these setbacks an increasing number of adults in their early and mid twenties, usually carrying heavy debt loads, are returning home or forgoing leaving at all

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Name: Erin McCarty
Age: 25
Occupation: Journalist

In and out over the past few years, Erin lived at home while completing her undergrad degree. She finished her Journalism diploma while living with roommates, and spent a year in between living with a now ex-boyfriend. In a perfect world, she says, she wouldn't be living in my parents basement but coming home has always been a safe place during transition periods in her life. In freelance limbo for the time being, she says when she inevitably moves out again, the comforts afforded by living at home will be missed.

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Name: Scott Schneider
Age: 25
Occupation: Delivery Driver

Scott spent time in Whistler, "hitting the slopes and taking it easy," but with the job market being tight he says things dried up. Moving back to Edmonton a back a year and a half ago, he has worked as a delivery driver for Sleep Country Canada. He says the worst part of living at home with your parents is that you are living at home with your parents - but it's hard to pass up free food and no rent.

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Name: Erin Goldie
Age: 24
Occupation: Customer Service Supervisor

Erin says she is not freeloading. She pays rent and helps out around the house, cleaning and taking care of the family pets when her parents are out of town, which she says is often. She says she will probably will move out sooner rather than later, but says it's hard to bead the price and location. Especially when she has the house to herself two thirds of the time.

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Name: Bronwyne Sloley
Age: 25
Occupation: Painter / Dancer

Bronwyne's parents got divorced when she was 16. She says for a few years, till she was about 20, she was really resentful of them. She says it wasn't the termination of their union that bothered her, it was that she had been expecting to go to university but as it turned out that's what her mother did, leaving her home to take care of her father. She says dealing with the two of them sometimes felt like there was a roll reversal. Now after years of living at home she is finally planning on moving out on her own.

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Name: Alexander Forsyth
Age: 24
Occupation: Playwright / Producer / Volunteer Coordinator

Alex had been living on his own, but things fell apart. Now, back with the "rents" he says it's not that big of a deal. He says he loves his parents and that they give him space when I need it. He is thankful for their support. He says as a working man and an artist, both the creative process and my job obligations take up a lot of his time. One less thing to worry about, like rent, is a welcome benefit.

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Name: Izzy Colmers
Age: 24
Occupation: Graduate Research Assistant / Lifeguard / Student

Izzy's says it's all about location. With her parents so close to the university, she says it would be pretty hard for her to find a better place to live. Even still, she adds, it was a hard choice to move home while doing her masters. She lived independently in France after high school and then in Ontario while she did her undergrad. She came back to Edmonton for a job, and rented a house with friends, but things didn't work out. Her parents had a big house and kept a room for her so it was a obvious choice. She says she gets along well with her family saying her parents have a active social life so they are not on top of each other all the time.

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Name: Patrick Law
Age: 24
Occupation: Small Business Owner / Student

After high school Patrick's parents told him they couldn't pay for my tuition but they would let him continue to live at home and eat their food until he had finished his post-secondary degree. For him, that was a good deal, in fact he says it has allowed him to complete my education with out acquiring any debt. Something he says is rare among his peers, who are often between ten to thirty grand in debt. But he will be done in the new year and with that he says, he expects he will moving out.

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