Millennials finally get to claim a trophy for an achievement they actually earned (no participation medals here)...that's right, Millennials have officially set a 75-year record for highest percentage of young adults living at home with mom. At just under 40%, Millennials are barely shy of the all-time record of 40.9% set in 1940, after the end of the Great Depression. For once, we have every confidence that our young snowflakes will excel in crushing this longstanding record. Per the Wall Street Journal:

Almost 40% of young Americans were living with their parents, siblings or other relatives in 2015, the largest percentage since 1940, according to an analysis of census data by real estate tracker Trulia. Despite a rebounding economy and recent job growth, the share of those between the ages of 18 and 34 doubling up with parents or other family members has been rising since 2005. Back then, before the start of the last recession, roughly one out of three were living with family. The trend runs counter to that of previous economic cycles, when after a recession-related spike, the number of younger Americans living with relatives declined as the economy improved.

We must admit that we're somewhat confused by the following data, from the Census Bureau, suggesting that the percentage of the population with college degrees has increased 5x since 1940. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren assured us that spending 4-7 years drinking and partying at an institution of higher education, while incurring $100,000's of dollars worth of debt that will ultimately have to be absorbed by taxpayers, would automatically result in higher incomes which should then translate into higher household formation and economic growth, right?

Well, we're sure their is some other fantastic explanation as to why only 200,000 households have been created by the 5 million milliennials that have joined the "young adults under 30" cohort over the past decade...and this is just a guess but we bet it has something to do with Republicans and/or Russia.

The result is that there is far less demand for housing than would be expected for the millennial generation, now the largest in U.S. history. The number of adults under age 30 has increased by 5 million over the last decade, but the number of households for that age group grew by just 200,000 over the same period, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Analysts point to rising rents in many cities and tough mortgage-lending standards as the culprit, making it difficult for younger Americans to strike out on their own. “I don’t think those are challenges that are going to keep young households permanently out of the housing market, but it may keep their homeownership rate near historic lows for likely the indefinite future,” said Ralph McLaughlin, Trulia’s chief economist. Household formation is closely correlated with housing affordability and income. Among those aged 25 to 34, 40% of those earning less than $25,000 headed their own household. The share rose to 50% for those earning between $25,000 and $50,000, and 58% for those with incomes above $50,000, according to the Harvard Joint Center.

Perhaps the problem isn't as complicated as Bernie and Liz think, maybe we should just try this guy's idea that millennials should stop playing video games in their parents' basements and get a job...it just might be crazy enough to work.