Nearly three in 10 millennials have had to move back in with their parents because they couldn’t afford to live on their own, according to a new study.

More than 16% of millennials currently live in their childhood bedrooms because of financial strains, and nearly 12% have had to do so in the past, according to the report by PayScale Inc. and Millennial Branding, a consulting firm.

Those are far higher percentages than the baby boom or Generation X cohorts ever experienced, according to the study.

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More than 95% of baby boomers say they have always been able to live on their own. Ditto for nearly 89% of Gen-Xers.

Only 72.1% of millennials said they have always been able to live on their own. The study pegged millennials as people born from 1982 to 2002.

That’s not surprising given the well-chronicled tribulations of the millennial generation.

But it’s the latest sign of the potentially long-lasting struggles of people in their 20s and early 30s. Their financial plight isn’t as immediately pressing as that of older people who are nearing traditional retirement age with inadequate savings.


Still, a study this week predicted the average millennial won’t be able to retire until age 73 because the first 10 years of their working lives are spent paying off student loans rather than saving for retirement.

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How have spending habits changed since ’73? More housing. Less saving.

Follow Walter Hamilton on Twitter @LATwalter