MILLENNIALS LIVING AT HOME WITH THEIR PARENTS ARE BUYING MORE LUXURY GOODS THAN EVER

Inflation concerns and record-high prices in rent, groceries, and other amenities have caused nearly half of all young adults (48%) between the ages of 18 and 29 to choose to live with their parents, a conglomerate of analysts found, citing data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

One sector that has benefited from the Millennial and the Gen Z decision to stay at home is luxury retailers, the report found, as young adults are spending less (or nothing) on rent and are then using the extra disposable income on higher-end brands of clothing and luxury items.

“When young adults free up their budget for daily necessities, they simply have more disposable income to be allocated to discretionary spending”, Aubin said in the report. “We see it as fundamentally positive for the [luxury] industry”.

A Property Management survey in Dec. found only four-in-ten millennials living at home say their parents charge them rent. Of those, nearly half were paying less than $500 per month.

The analyst said developments in social media have also helped prompt the additional luxurious spending. ”This is of course not the only reason luxury-goods consumers are getting younger in the West (social media playing also an important part) but we see it as fundamentally positive for the industry,” the analysts reported.

Other payment options for luxury goods, such as buy-now-pay-later have also facilitated the increase in high-end spending, according to Quartz.

Lawrence Richard