TORONTO -- Just when you thought you had become an empty nester....not so fast.
has found 2.8 million, or nearly 1 in every 10 Canadians have seen their living arrangements change due to COVID-19 and 1 million Canadians are still thinking about moving in with family.
Younger Canadians were the most likely to have already moved back home. Not surprising at all. Millennials struggling to launch a career at the best of times is tough and during a pandemic for some insurmountable. Their parents have once again proven to be the much-needed safety net.
However, it is interesting to note, of those moving home, by far the biggest trend are grown adults moving back in with their parents. Already 1.5M Canadians have said they have already moved home due to COVID-19 and more than 860,000 are contemplating it.
Rents are high, unemployment levels are escalating, fear of a second uptick in the deadly virus all conspire to make returning home a very attractive option.
Families coming together to help one another isn't a new trend and it can work both ways.
Parents are also moving in with their children. Isolation can be driving factor but it may not be much a leap to assume many parents are also grandparents who are helping to provide childcare to stressed out parents struggling to manage young children and workplace demands. While this is a smaller trend with 278,000 already settled in, another 455,000 are contemplating it.
Ontario, Quebec and B.C. lead the charge as families come together to co-mingle and reduce the higher costs of living. Ontario, though, is really the epicentre with 10% of people saying they have moved back in with their parents or had adult children move home with them.
There are so many lessons this pandemic has taught us and families stepping up to help one another shows just how resilient, flexible and responsible we all can be during difficult times.
