Last week, The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson delivered a rebuke to writers who have expressed concern about elevated numbers of young adults living in their parents' basements. People like me, and also Derek Thompson from 2012.

According to Thompson, this increase relies almost entirely on a quirk in the statistical data. The Current Population Survey of the U.S. Census defines students living in dormitories as “living in their parents' home.” To Thompson, this means that the entire trend is bogus: More young adults are enrolling in college than ever before, and they’re simply counted as basement-dwellers. Prominent analysts like Calculated Risk’s Bill McBride picked up Thompson’s theory.

Is he right? Are perceptions of economic stresses among young adults, and their “Great Delay” of major purchases and life events, merely a function of increased access to college education? Do I owe readers an apology?

I don’t think so, for a variety of reasons. First of all, Thompson plays a bit with his age ranges. The statistics he pulls on the increase in college enrollment are for millennials aged 18-24. However, the trend of more young adults living at home, based on Current Population Survey statistics, extends from 18-34.

You can see the upward trend for men and women aged 25-34 specifically. It’s hard to figure that this all comes from dorm living. Especially considering that college enrollment has actually fallen the past two years, yet young adults living at home continued to rise.