Three million young adults still live with parents

Almost three million people aged between 20 and 34 are living with a parent or parents, an increase of almost half a million, or 20 per cent, since 1997.

The figures from the Office of National Statistics show that this represents 47 per cent of the young adult age group. The number of people in the population aged 20 to 34 were largely the same in 1997 and 2011.

There were 1.8 million men and 1.1 million women aged between 20 and 34 living with their parents in 2011.

In 1997, one in four men and one in seven women aged 20 to 34 lived with their parents. This had grown to one in three men and one in six women by 2011. The substantial difference between men and women can be explained by looking at where other young adults of this age live.

The majority of 20-34 year olds live as a couple in their own household - 2,489 men and 3,122 women making up 39 per cent and 50 per cent respectively.