Many parents look forward to when their children go off to college or move out of the family home and into their first apartment. After years of providing food, clothing, and other necessities, it can be freeing to have one less household member to care for. Rooms that were once bedrooms or play rooms may now be converted into craft areas or home offices, and the excess clutter that often accompanies teens and young adults, such as bikes, skateboards, collectible items, and sports gear, can now be cleaned out of closets and sheds to allow for other uses. Before you get too comfortable with these new arrangements and in your new space, be forewarned: low wages and increases in the cost of living are causing record numbers of young adults to return back home to live with mom and dad. Fortunately, in these situations, a Phoenix storage unit can come in handy. Being able to store both your children’s furnishings all well as your own belongings can help save you money, while making these types of moves a little easier for everyone involved. How A Phoenix Storage Unit Helps Parents Prepare for the ‘Boomerang’ Effect According to a May 2016 Pew Research report on family living arrangements, for the first time since the early 1900s, more adult children are living at home than ever before. Fueled in part by the economy as well as shifting attitudes towards marriage, over 30 percent of adult children aged 18 to 34 are now choosing to live at home with their parents, as opposed to either getting married and moving in with their spouse or living with friends or other family members. Even when young people do fly the nest, they may find themselves returning home for budgetary reasons. Accompanying these ‘boomerang’ children is often an assortment of furniture, home furnishings, recreational equipment, and clothing they are reluctant to part with. This can create problems for parents who have already converted their child’s former living space for other purposes. Aside from losing that home theatre or office, there is often a question of what to do with the items purchased for that area. A Phoenix storage unit can prove helpful for storing the following: Recently purchased furnishings you bought for your extra space; Home office equipment, crafts, and art supplies you have invested money in; Furnishings and belongings your adult child brings with them that are not used on a daily basis; Additional items in your home, such as holiday décor and seasonal items, which can be stored to increase your overall amount of space. Dealing With Returning College Students For parents of college students, a Phoenix storage unit can also be handy for summer and holiday vacations. According to Next Avenue, an informational resource for parents, while students may stay away from home during the school year in dorms or campus housing, these accommodations often close over the holiday break as well as throughout the summer months. Rather than keeping your child’s room intact for use only a few months out of the year, a Phoenix storage unit enables you to use that space for other purposes, while still having the items your student needs available when they return. When dealing with students or boomerang children, keeping items in storage can help to emphasize the temporary nature of the current arrangement, while making sure you both have what you need when they again leave the nest. US Storage Centers 4860 North 83rd Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85033 (866) 858-7031
