Nearly half of Americans under age 30 lived with a parent in 2025, while rising childcare expenses and caregiving responsibilities continued to put pressure on household budgets, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve.
The Federal Reserve’s 2026 Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households examined living arrangements, childcare expenses and unpaid caregiving using responses from its 2025 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking.
The report found that 49% of adults under age 30 lived with a parent in 2025. That is up 6 percentage points from 2022 and 12 percentage points from 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall, 33% of adults lived in households with at least two generations of adults. The report found that 19% lived with their adult children, while 15% lived with a parent.
For families with young children, childcare remained a substantial expense.
The Federal Reserve found that parents who paid for both childcare and housing spent a median of $1,083 per month on childcare, compared with a median monthly housing payment of $1,900.
Families using at least 20 hours of paid childcare per week faced even higher costs, with median monthly childcare payments reaching $1,517.
Only one in four parents with children under age 13 used paid childcare in the week before the survey. The share was 34% among parents living with children under age 6.
The use of paid childcare also varied by income. Among parents with children under age 13, 35% of those with family incomes of $100,000 or more used paid childcare, compared with 15% of those earning less than $50,000.
Many families relied on unpaid help. The report found that 44% of parents living with children under age 13 used some form of unpaid childcare, most commonly provided by a relative, such as a grandparent.
The report also highlighted differences in caregiving responsibilities between mothers and fathers.
Among parents living with a spouse or partner and children under age 13, 58% of mothers said they were usually the primary caretaker when their children were home, compared with 12% of fathers.
The gap persisted among couples in which both parents worked. In those households, 49% of working mothers identified themselves as the primary caretaker, compared with 8% of working fathers.
Childcare responsibilities also affected employment. Among parents living with children under age 13, 37% of mothers were not working for pay, compared with 18% of fathers.
Among parents who were not working, 41% of mothers said childcare responsibilities contributed to that decision, compared with 25% of fathers.
The report also found that 16% of mothers with children under age 13 worked part time, compared with 4% of fathers. Among parents working part time, 44% said childcare contributed to their decision to work fewer hours.
Beyond childcare, many Americans also provide unpaid assistance to adult relatives or friends who need help because of aging, disability or illness.
The Federal Reserve found that 18% of adults regularly provided unpaid care to another adult.
Women were more likely than men to report providing this care, at 19% and 16%, respectively. The share was highest among adults ages 45 to 59, at 23%.
The report also found differences by race and ethnicity. Unpaid adult caregiving was reported by 21% of Black adults, 20% of Hispanic adults, 19% of Asian adults and 16% of White adults.
Caregiving responsibilities sometimes affected employment. Among adults in their prime working years, 32% of those caring for another adult did not have a paid job, compared with 23% of those without those responsibilities.
Fifteen percent of prime-age adults caring for another adult said those responsibilities contributed to them not working for pay.
The report offers a snapshot of how Americans managed household arrangements and caregiving in 2025, highlighting the financial and employment challenges some families face while caring for children and aging relatives.
