Behind The Mic With Joe Mathieu: More Young Adults Living With Parents

BOSTON (CBS) - It's a startling statistic. Looks a misprint when you first read it.

Four out of five people experience unemployment, live near poverty and rely on welfare for at least part of their lives, according to an exclusive AP report.

Three quarters of Americans. And that number cuts across all social and ethnic groups.

Economic insecurity is becoming a fact of life for more people - at least temporarily. And that's forcing some big changes in our lifestyles.

Changes that include living with the parents.

Yeah it's easy to make fun of the pimply guy with Coke bottle glasses playing video games in his Mom's basement.

But this is no Star Trek convention.

New research from the web site Trulia finds the share of 18-to-34 year olds living with their parents has jumped to 31-percent.

Imagine a third of college grads and 30-somethings not able to live on their own.

The big reason? You guessed it – the job market.

And this is already impacting the social make-up of the country.

I say that because until 2008 about 1 million new households were formed each year in America due primarily to population growth. But that number is dropping precipitously.

In fact it's dropping so much that an economist at Trulia estimates there are more than 2 million missing households in the USA, creating a virtual ghost town that could have a lasting effect on our communities.

Follow Joe on Twitter @joemathieuwbz