About a third of young adults between the ages of 18 and 31 are living with their parents, according to research from the Pew Research Institute. That’s more than 21.6 million youth—and the highest percentage on record for 40 years.

It’s not just because young adults want to hang out with their moms and dads more. The biggest culprit may be the Great Recession. In 2007, before the recession began, just 18.5 million adult-aged youth were living with their parents. Economic necessity may have forced more back home.

About a third of these stay-at-home young adults were students, according to Pew. Women were more likely to share a roof with their mothers and fathers than men—40 percent compared to 32 percent respectively. (New York Daily News)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife Wendy and his two children. Follow him on Twitter.