USA Today published an article called Is \'failure to launch\' really a failure?
ID: 3219228 • Letter: U
Question
USA Today published an article called Is 'failure to launch' really a failure?^2 in 2006. The premise of the article was that young adults are more likely to live at home than they were in the past. Here is a quote from it: Since 1970, the percentage of people ages 18 to 34 who live at home with their family increased 48%, from 12.5 million to 18.6 million, the Census Bureau says. Does the quote support the premise of the article that young adults are more likely now than before to live "at home with their family"? (Assume "young adult" means "people ages 18 to 34".) Is there anything misleading or incorrect? What questions would you like answered in order to further clarify the provided statistics?Explanation / Answer
First issue is that the article incorrectly stated that the percentage (not the number) of people living at home increased.
Secondly, the quote states an increase from 1970 to 2006, a gap of 36 years. What it doesnt take into account is the population increase that could have occurred in the same time period. If the total population had gone up consistently, then it cannot be quoted saying there is an increase in the percentage of people ages 18 to 34 who live at home with their family.
Ideally, the census data from 1970 and 2006 can provide the population increase and if that percentage is used to compare the percentage of people ages 18 to 34 who live at home with their family, this will give the whole truth of the story
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