Issue date: 10/4/06 Section: Campus

By Emily Glazer
Contributing Writer

Students are moving back home after college, and they aren't embarrassed about it, opting to forgo accidentally bleaching their favorite shirt, constantly eating cold pizza and forking over rent.

Northwestern alumnus Peter Duchan, Communication '05, is currently living in Manhattan but spent a year at home in Connecticut, while commuting to work in New York.

"When I got home off the train - even though my family had already eaten - there was a plate with a whole meal," Duchan said.

Experience, Inc., a company that provides career services to students and alumni, polled recent graduates across the nation. In its 2006 survey, the company found that 58 percent of college grads moved home after college and 32 percent stayed home for more than a year.

These students have been labeled the "Boomerang Generation," because they leave home for a period of time and then return. The boomerangers have become so widespread that author Elina Furman wrote the book "Boomerang Nation: How to Survive Living With Your Parents … The Second Time Around."

The number of graduates moving back home remains constant, but moving back home is becoming more socially acceptable, she said.

"It used to be the 'boomerang in the basement,' but they're really coming out of the basement, if you will, and everyone is talking about it," Furman said.

Some NU students are part of this trend.

"I wanted to make sure I'd be happy (in Manhattan)," Duchan said. "For me, it was the financial security that the first year of not living in the city provided, and I would recommend it."

Financial security is one of the most popular reasons for moving back home after graduating.

"Society is so expensive. It's helpful to save more money by staying at home and creating a psychological secure base," said Dr. Wei-Jen Huang, assistant director for community relations at Counseling and Psychological Services.

Continued...

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