I can't move out - it costs too much.

• Position: Why young adults live with their parents

High housing costs are an important reason young adults continue living with their parents rather than striking out on their own. A national study found that an average 25-year-old living in an area with low housing costs was 12% more likely to be out of his or her parents' home and living alone. High-cost areas were defined as metropolitan regions where typical rental fees for a two-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath apartment were twice the national average; low-cost, where rents for such an apartment were half the national average.

Over all, every 10% increase in local rents resulted in a 1.4% decrease in the number of young adults living outside their parents' home, reports Donald Haurin, professor of economics and finance, Ohio State University. Job opportunities also played a strong role in the decision to leave home. A 10% rise in the potential wage a young person could earn increased the chance of living outside the parents' home by six percent.

The results show why many young people are taking longer in recent years to leave the parental nest. "It's well-known that wages flattened out for young people in the 1980s and 1990s, while housing costs continued to rise. Young people just can't afford to go out on their own like they could 15 or 20 years ago."

The study also found that:

* At age 22, about three out of five young adults had moved out of their parents' home. By 29, nine out of 10 had started their own households.

* At all ages, women were more likely than men to have moved out of their parents' home. At 25, for example, 86% of women and 72% of men had moved out.

* Blacks and Hispanics feel the impact of higher housing costs more than whites and generally are more likely to stay with their parents.

* Young adults in high-cost areas are more likely to live with roommates than those in low-cost regions.

GIRLS CAN BE

BULLIES, TOO

In an era of male/female equality, are girls showing more aggression with their fists than with their lips? Has the struggle for equality resulted in an ensuing attitude that some girls can be considered bullies?

The answer is yes, according to Wanda Draper, a child development expert at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Bullies, whether male or female, always have been a part of society, but girls traditionally have been more verbal with their bullying. The Women's Movement, however, has resulted in girls now believing they have permission to be more physically aggressive. They may feel a...