The full news release from Pew [0] indicates that this is analysis of the monthly Current Population Survey [1] conducted by the Department of Labor. "The anal

The full news release from Pew [0] indicates that this is analysis of the monthly Current Population Survey [1] conducted by the Department of Labor. "The analysis of recent trends and characteristics is based on the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS), conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics." In particular, further in Pew's methodology section ("How we did this"), the authors note that the CPS counts all unmarried students in dorms as living with their parents. This is a pretty big caveat. However, this still indicates an shift of students living off-campus who moved back in with their parents. Additionally: "The Current Population Survey (CPS), also referred to as the household survey, is a monthly sample survey of 60,000 eligible households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics The survey is conducted using a combination of live telephone and in-person interviews with household respondents." So, the shift is driven by surveys, rather than generic assumptions. That said, IMO, the value-add of this analysis is not the top-line number, but the relative shift (5% absolute increase _since February_). [0] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/04/a-majority-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-live-with-their-parents-for-the-first-time-since-the-great-depression/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/04/a-majority-... [1] https://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_over.htm https://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_over.htm