More Millennials Moving Back Home After College

A new study finds more millennials are moving back home with their parents now than five years ago at the end of the Great Recession.

The Pew Research Center report, based on Census data, found 24 percent of young adults - ages 18 to 34 - were living with their parents in 2010, compared to 26 percent at the beginning of this year.

So why is this happening? According to Rutgers University Sociology Professor Deborah Carr, there are several factors involved.

"It's becoming more socially acceptable, it used to be that someone looked like a loser if they lived with their parents, but today there's great acceptance of that. The stigma has disappeared, their friends are doing it, so there's sort of a social signal that it's okay," she said.

Carr said millennials are still having trouble making it on their own because the job market is still not very good.

"Even though the overall unemployment rate has dropped, it doesn't mean that all types of jobs become available, sometimes the jobs that are available are store clerks," she said. "It's possible that more of them have jobs but it could be a part-time job, Starbucks job, jobs that wouldn't allow them to pay rent."

Another important factor is rising student debt.

"Young people today know they need a college degree, so they're willing to take some risk, they're willing to take some debt, but they also know if they don't pay back their loans their credit rating can be ruined for a very long time and that's a risk very few of them are willing to take - so they will be focused on saving money to pay back those loans," Carr said.

Carr also said many millennial parents are welcoming their grown children home with open arms.

"It could be good for the parents, maybe they want some companionship, maybe they're very close with their millennials, we know the millennials are very close with their parents --  they're Facebook friends, they're social friends," Carr said. "This trend is not something to be alarmed by because it's a short-term situation, a short-term blip. It's just a little harder for this generation to get on their feet given the persistently poor economy."