More young adults are returning home to live with their parents in their 20s, and a surprising number of parents are content about it. Based on a new collection of studies, the deepest look so far at the failure-to-launch trend, the pattern is likely to persist. And as it becomes more wide-spread, researchers say, the stigma traditionally linked to young adults' living at home will fade.

More upper-and-middle-income parents, including many who felt pressed for time when their children were growing up, are not ready to be "finished with them" by their 20s, says Katherine Newman, a Princeton University Sociology professor and one of the project's 20 researchers. Also, as more students attend college at older ages, parents are coming to regard the 20s as a time of self-discovery.

The proportion of 18 to 34-year olds living with their parents has risen by an estimated five percentage points since 1980, to roughly 34%, says Aaron Yelowitz, an associate professor of economics at the University of Kentucky and a contributor to the collection of studies "The Price of Independence;“' published by the Russell Sage Foundation.

To be sure, living together still causes tension for parents and kids alike. Living with parents reduces young adults' life satisfaction, Dr. Newman found. But the more widespread the practice, the less psychological toll it takes, she says. In southern Europe, where as many as 60% of young adults live at home, the stigma has eased; she cites research showing more than half of European adults think living longer with one's parents is a good thing.