Living Arrangements of Young Adults, 1975 and 2016

The lives of young adults have changed dramatically over the past 40 years, according to a Census Bureau report. A comparison of the living arrangements of 18-to-34-year-olds in 2016 with the living arrangements of their counterparts more than 40 years ago in 1975 shows just how much has changed...

• Only 27% live with a spouse, down from the 57% majority in 1975.
• Nearly one-third (31%) live with their parents, up from 26% in 1975.
• One in eight (12%) lives with an unmarried partner, up from just 1% in 1975.
• More live alone—8% in 2016, up from 5% in 1975.
• One in five (21%) has some other living arrangement, up from 11% of 1975. 

Perhaps the biggest difference between then and now is that there's no longer a dominant type of living arrangement for the age group, making young adults increasingly difficult to target.

Source: Census Bureau, The Changing Economics and Demographics of Young Adulthood: 1975–2016