‘I’ll cherish these moments’: how Covid has swelled the boomerang generation

Millions of adults have moved back in with their parents - including two-thirds of 20- to 34-year-olds without children. How have they fared in lockdown?

With its stay-at-home orders and restrictions on movements, with rush hours slowed, pollution lowered and shopping habits turned on their head, the pandemic quickly earned itself a nickname: the great pause. This pause, it was argued in the early days, would give us space to think, to reassess our lives and priorities as a society - and perhaps to emerge with fresh perspective.

But, for many families, things did not grind to a halt immediately. Instead, what took place was a nationwide reshuffle: thousands packed their bags to move into new bubbles", households and living situations where they hoped to weather the storm more successfully. For many people, that meant moving in with their parents.