Forced to move back in with MUM AND DAD AT 50

Meet the middle-aged women who are living with their parents once again

- SAMANTHA BRICK

Between soaring house prices and low wages, we’re used to hearing tales of midlife parents welcoming their millennial children back into the home. But while bunking with mum and dad might seem like a good bet in your 20s or 30s, what about in your 50s or 60s?

At an age when many have children, or even grandchildren, of their own, it may seem unthinkable — but thanks to divorce and the effect of coronavirus on the jobs market, an increasing number of ‘boomerang boomers’ are doing just that. So what’s it like being back in your childhood bedroom in middle age? And what on earth does living with elderly parents do for your love life? We speak to three over-50s who have moved back home.

‘AFTER HAVING MY OWN HOME, ADAPTING TO THEIR ROUTINES WAS HARD’

Learning support assistant Elaine Coe, 55, has a daughter aged 28. She lives in Wickford, Essex, with her parents Pam, 78, and Terry Woolton, 80. My ex-husband and I had been married for 34 years. We’d had problems for a while, and each time I’d confide in my parents. After the fourth time, Dad said, ‘You know you are welcome to come back here.’ By 2019, my marriage had reached the end of the road.

Looking at what I’d received from the division of our assets, combined with my earnings, at best I’d be able to afford a mortgage on a one-bedroom flat in a not very nice area. I’d be working purely to pay the bills — so I told my parents I’d take up their offer.