Young Colombian won't leave their parents house

Reasons are simple, but is a situation that won't change any time soon

Many of the foreigners that stay fro a while are shocked that many of the young people they meet are still living with their parents. And it's true, when I was in university, the majority of my friends still lived with their parents, just a few lived alone by decision, I lived alone because I came to Bogota alone to study.

Compare this to what my friend in Canada tells me: he works with young people, 20-25 years old, all of them work and study. They live alone. He even told me he worked with a 17 years old kid who already worked full time and lived alone for around 2 years by then.

In Colombia (and Latin America) you can’t think about it. Economically it is almost impossible to keep up with the expenses with a regular job, for example, working in a kitchen, serving tables, in a supermarket, etc… Salaries are a joke in those areas.

Just look this statistics from 2020:

• 44.1% of youngster from 16 to 26 years old still live with their parents.

• 31.2% of young adults from 26 to 34 years old still live in their parents home.

And COVID crisis just might have increased the numbers by a lot.

My friend in Canada has a regular kitchen job, doesn't earn lots of money but is enough to pay for his rent and his expenses. He is also able to save money with his wage. And that’s the situation for young people there (and I can infer the same in US or Europe).

You don’t need to be a genius to recognize that wages in Colombia are bad and is hard to keep up with expenses, it is the truth and now a days you can feel how much young people struggle to find a job with a reasonable wage.

Just by comparing the ability to thrive economically, North America has much better opportunities. And I say this thinking in jobs that are not well payed in Colombia, including construction, serving, kitchen, client service… That’s why many people still go there to find a better life, and is reasonable.

But I also know that money and economy isn’t the only factor to explain why people decide to live with their parents. Family here has a strong connection, your family is your first and foremost support. Family here provides emotional support, you always know that your close family have your back.

So its not hard to conclude that when a young person is struggling to find a stable income to be able to support himself, their parents will be supporting them by staying in the same household.

The beautiful thing is (in most cases) they won’t expect nothing in exchange.

If you compare that situation, in North America and Europe you leave your parents home as soon as you can. I am not saying that families there don’t love their kids, is just the expectation to their children to leave their homes.

And I find sometimes interesting the relationship they have with their parents, sometimes I heard of people not calling or visiting their parents for years, or maybe only going for a holiday and that’s it.

At least for me it’s an impossibility. I like to spend time with them, I enjoy their company and now that I can help them, I always try to support them as much as I can.

Having family to rely on is beautiful, is a way to demonstrate that you care about them and appreciate all efforts they made to raise you and keep you going. But I also know this can backfire for some, many people will take advantage of this situation and won’t try to make a live for themselves because they know they cal always rely on their parents.

I know a story about a 45 year old man, all his life unemployed and all his life lived with his parents, and the funny thing is that their parents had to keep working up until they got old.

Also can be detrimental when you loose independence and won’t be able to move forward because you are so tied up with your parents. Some people won’t leave their homes because they are so attached to their houses and will limit their opportunities just because they wouldn't even think about living their parents.

My take is this, your parents are all grown ups, by now they already have figured life and they goal is to see you become the best version of yourself. You can still support them but you have to know when you are a burden to them, they won’t tell you that tho.

Best way to improve yourself is to move forward and feel confortable with uncomfortable situations, like feeling the pressure to make more money to pay for rent and food. That’s a feeling that will make you thrive.

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