Money woes turn men into 'mummy's boys'

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Mounting expenses and rising education costs are turning Aussie men into 'mummy"s boys" reluctant to leave their parents" home, according to a new report released by IBISWorld. The report has found that men Down Under are more hesitant to leave the family home than women.

Fifty-eight per cent of Australian men aged 20-24 still live with their parents, while nearly a quarter of 25-29 year old men have yet to fly the coop, the study found.

Senior industry analyst at IBISWorld, Edward Butler said that for the most part adult children living with their parents weren"t bludging, but were instead being “fiscally responsible". Butler said in many cases, the decision to live at home was based on a desire to clear debt and get financially set up.

He said most young people leave university with huge debts. “People who get post-graduate qualifications aren"t ready for the workforce until they"re 23," News.com.au quoted him, as saying.

Once men do move out of their childhood home, marriage seems to pay off. Married men earn 14 per cent more than their single counterparts. Butler said the fact men tend to be a bit older when they marry - the average age men get married is 31 up from 26 in 1981 – meant they had been working for a few years and were usually well set up.

“They are a little bit older and are already established in the workforce," he said.

Young men like to play almost as hard as they work – putting in an average of 30 hours a week with their mates, compared with an average of 37 hours a week at work. As men get older mates tend to get sidelined more, with time spent with friends falling to 12 hours a week for 25-34 year olds and plunging to seven hours a week for the over-75s.