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Students who attend four-year institutions and are from high socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to rely on financial help from their parents than those who did not attend college or those from less affluent backgrounds, according to a new study published in the journal Social Currents.
Using data from the 2008 National Longitudinal Student of Adolescent to Adult Health, Anna Manzoni, author of the study and an assistant professor of sociology at North Carolina State University, found that 41.4 percent of respondents between 25 and 32 were "stuck in a state of partial independence," meaning adult children who no longer live with their parents but still receive financial support. At the same time, people who attended a four-year college -- both from higher and lower socioeconomic backgrounds -- who remained in a state of partial independence in their late 20s were more likely to eventually become and remain financially independent by their early 30s, Manzoni found.
“This was especially true for people who paid their own way through college,” Manzoni says. “Meanwhile, people whose parents supported them financially throughout college were also more likely to move back in with their parents at some point.”