About 36 percent of Baby Boomers plan to move into a new home when they become “empty nesters,” according to an annual survey by Del Webb, a builder of active adult communities and a brand of Pulte Homes.
About one-quarter of the survey respondents said they expect their children to move back in with them, and about 28 percent of them plan to charge their children rent. About 15 percent have grown children who already returned to the “nest.” About 25 percent of people 18-34 live with their parents, according to U.S. Census statistics. For those 18-24, about 56 percent of the men and 43 percent of the women live with one or both parents.
Of those Bay Boomer empty nesters who plan to move, about 36 percent said they will move more than three hours away from their current home. About 44 percent said the top reason for leaving their current home is to move into a smaller home, and 44 percent said they want a home that requires less maintenance.
About 65 percent of Baby Boomers would “be happy” to help if their grown kids needed to move back home, the survey found, and about 23 percent said they would feel “obligated” to help. Also, about 24 percent of Baby Boomers anticipated that their parents or in-laws would move in with them, about 50 percent said they would be happy to accommodate that, and about 17 percent said they would be “eager” to find another living arrangement for parents or in-laws. About 8 percent said they would charge their parents rent.
About one-quarter of the respondents said they would consider moving into a community built for active, older adults. Del Webb has conducted the annual survey since 1996. The latest survey was conducted by Harris Poll Online from April 29 to May 3 and involved a sample of 1,174 people ages 40-70.
The Baby Boomer Generation is defined in the survey as those people who were born between 1946-64 and who are now 40-58.
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