Kangaroo Tribe: Why 6 out of 10 young adults still live with their parents

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NEWs GENERATION is a program hosted by Arirang TV covering Korea’s latest trends and current affairs from the perspective of those in their twenties and thirties (millennial and Gen Zers, dubbed the ‘MZ Generation’ in Korea). For all of my appearances, visit
NEWs GENERATION Appearance.

More and more youth are having trouble leaving their parents' houses, a.k.a kangaroo pouch. In other words, with record inflation, high living costs and unemployment figures soaring the number of youth boomeranging back into their parents' nests is growing. Not just here in Seoul, but around the world. While we call these youth "kangaroo tribes" in Korea, many abroad call them the "boomerang generation." Let's look into how this is a pressing global issue at the moment.

The issue of “kangaroo tribes” is absolutely a global issue, with similar legal disputes having happened in the United States, China, and Spain.

Looking at one of the closest countries to Korea, Japan goes so far as to use the terms “freeter” to refer to those who only work part-time for less hours and “parasite single” to describe adults who continue to live with their parents.

Even in countries where we would like to think independence is important, like the US, a recent study showed that 1/4th of young adults lived in their parents homes. After the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and COVID-19 pandemic that made it harder for people to afford their own homes, some see it as a compromise that these people had to make in order to ease their financial burden.

Let's now analyze a bit deeper into what makes Korean kangaroo tribes stand out.What's some of our distinct characteristics?

I think part of what makes Korea unique in this situation is that unlike Western cultures, where moving out after you turn a certain age is generally taken for granted, living with and caring for your parents as an adult has been a part of Korean culture for a long time.

Because we place a lot of emphasis on the role of family, another distinction is the fact that while the “boomerang generation” abroad return to live with their parents again, the “kangaroo tribes” in Korea never move out of their parents’ homes and continue to financially rely on them.

Additionally, because it’s so hard for young adults nowadays to afford the cost of living, let alone save money, I don’t think that those who pay their fair share of living also doing housework should be considered as kangaroo tribes. Like I previously mentioned, it’s a compromise that they have no choice but to make.

Talking to some of my friends, I get to hear the troubles of the “N-po generation” as we call it in Korea first-hand, where young adults give up on dating, marriage, and much more because it’s already so hard to take care of yourself and yourself only.

Then what about you guys. Are you a part of the kangaroo tribe?

I’m still in my early 20s attending university, so I do have to say that I still rely on my family for a large portion of my financial needs, notably tuition fees, and I think that the same goes for most of my friends as well. I do however try to cover most of my cost of living, like food, through part-time work, and housing, of which I live in the dorms, through the scholarship opportunities that our school offers.

Still, I see why so many young adults today have chosen to give up on what we took for granted in past generations because for me, even doing all that, it’s hard if not impossible to stay completely self-sufficient. It’s not that we don’t want to do hard work, but rather that there are so many commitments to make that we give up and decide to live the present instead of building up toward future goals.

This may be another extension to the question of what makes Korea's kangaroo tribe stand out compared to the boomerang generation in other parts of the world. Do you guys think our society has a specific way of perceiving youth still living with their parents even though they're in their twenties and thirties?

I think there definitely is a difference in how kangaroo tribes are perceived here and abroad, because independence and being able to live alone are big parts of being an adult in the latter. Especially in the United States, living in your parents’ basements, as it’s called, is used more as an insult because it portrays that you failed to make it on your own. In Korea, the fact that your parents continue to care for you well into your adulthood and vice versa, makes our “kangaroo tribes” very different from those in other countries, and I think there’s been more international media coverage on its positives, like its financial sustainability and savings, as well.

Then how would you guys like to see this trend go in the right direction?

Because the issue of kangaroo tribes in Korea are intertwined with many of the social and economic issues that we face, like rising house prices, I think we first have to change our own perception of how we see these young adults. When it’s incredibly difficult to be self-sufficient today without already being rich in the first place, we need to encourage them to build towards economic independence by first starting within their homes in dividing food prices and household chores, for example. Even if they don’t become completely independent, I think these are important skills and responsibilities that can help solve some of the issues that we see today.