[title]
Millennials are now the largest living generation in America. There are an estimated 75.4 million of them downing craft beer, binge-watching Netflix series and incessantly posting to Instagram from sea to shining sea. Defined as anyone who was between the ages of 18 and 34 in 2015, the population drives commerce, elections, culture—you name it—more than any other age group.
But while millennials are taking the world by storm (and confounding it), a new study from Abodo shows that 43 percent of the generation in the New York City area still lives at home. That's nine percent more than the national average, and ranks third among major metropolitan areas in the United States behind Miami and Riverside, California.
Young Americans failing to leave the nest has a lot of causes, but one of the primary drivers is the sheer amount of student loan debt that the generation lives with. The average student loan debt for millennials who attain a post-secondary degree is roughly $30,000. On top of that, they're making less money than the generations that preceded them—the median monthly income for millennials in New York is $2,440, which isn't exactly enough to live comfortably in the country's second most expensive city. The study also shows that 9.3 percent of millennials in New York are unemployed—nearly double the national rate.
With all that, it's easy to understand why New York millennials are having trouble moving out of their parents' place. The study notes that the generation is projected to make up 75 percent of the country's workforce by 2030, so something has to give. But for nearly half of all young Americans in the city, the foreseeable future involves biding their time and waiting to save up for a place of their own.