A new study by researchers at Queen Mary, University of London finds that young men who stay at home with their parents tend to be more violent than those who live independently. Researchers also found that men still living at home in their early twenties have fewer responsibilities and more disposable income to spend on alcohol.
Science Daily reports that this group makes up only four percent of the UK’s male population but that it is responsible for 16 percent of all violent injuries in the last five years. In the US and UK, delaying social independence and remaining in the parental home have become more common over the past 40 years.
The study, led by Professor Jeremy Coid and Dr. Ming Yang, surveyed more than 8,000 men and women, and participants answered questions about violent behavior over the past five years and mental health problems.
The results showed for the first time that staying in the parental home is stronger than any other risk factor for violence in young men.
“Young men living at home in Britain are no longer influenced by parents to conform to standards of behavior expected of previous generations,” Professor Coid said. “Violence outside of the home, mainly involving strangers, is the most common scenario and just one of a series of hedonistic and negative social behaviors such as hazardous drinking, drug misuse, sexual risk taking, and non-violent antisocial behavior,” he continued.
He added, “And these are more common among young men who do not have responsibilities of providing their own accommodation, supporting dependent children, or experiencing beneficial effects on their behavior from living with a female partner.”
“Young men who live at home are also more likely to receive financial support from their parents than in the past when the pattern was reversed,” Coid said. “However, in this study their earnings or benefits were the same as those who had left home and taken on greater social responsibility. They therefore had more disposable income which may have partly explained why they had more problems with alcohol.”
