boomerang child

English

WOTD – 17 February 2020

Etymology

From boomerang + child, a reference to the ability of a boomerang to return to the thrower after being thrown.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbuːməɹæŋ ˌt͡ʃaɪld/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbuməɹæŋ ˌt͡ʃaɪld/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: boo‧me‧rang child

Noun

boomerang child (plural boomerang children)

1. (originally US, informal) Synonym of boomerang kid (“a young adult who has moved back into the parental home after a period of independence”)

   Synonyms: boomerang baby, boomeranger

   • 1991 December 2, “Sidney Poitier Blames Parents for Children who Don’t Know how to Survive Tough Times”, in Robert E[dward] Johnson, editor, Jet, volume 81, number 7, Chicago, Ill.: Johnson Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 24:

     It has been said that "when the going gets tough, the tough get going." But that saying doesn't set too well with today's generation of so-called "boomerang children." Chicago Sun-Times writer Ellen James Martin describes "boomerang children" as "grown offspring who move away from home for college, a job or marriage. Then something goes amiss and they're back home. Times are harsh. It's very expensive to live." [...] Not all "boomerang children" are young. The U.S. Census Bureau's study of Living Arrangements of Never-Married Adults In 1990 reports that 23 per cent of the 35–39 age group lived with their parents.

   • 2010, Barbara A. Moody-Hamilton, “Introduction”, in From the Cradle to the Crypt, Pittsburgh, Pa.: Red Lead Press, →ISBN, page xiii:

     Of course, in some homes there are, as my grandmother would say, "good and grown" children still living at home, and other children, now called "boomerang children," coming back home with their children.

   • 2015, Judy Esposito, Abbi Hattem, “Families and the Family Life Cycle”, in Introduction to Family Counseling: A Case Study Approach, Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publishing, →ISBN:

     Although Christina's stepsister, Ashley, was successfully launched to college, the fact that she was then living at home with Shoshana made her launching incomplete and therefore she was a boomerang child. Liz's brother, David, could also have been considered a boomerang child. Although he still lived in his own apartment, he was dependent on his parents for financial support and therefore affected their plans as a couple.

   • 2016, D. Nicole Farris, “Introduction to Boomerang Children: Prevalence and Potential Questions”, in Boomerang Kids: The Demography of Previously Launched Adults (Springer Briefs in Population Studies), Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, section 1.1. (More about Boomerang Children), pages 3–4:

     [W]e see the increase of the phenomenon of the "boomerang child," where young adults return to the parental home at least once after the initial departure. Returning to the parental home could have a variety of consequences for both the "boomerang child" and the family. Despite the fact that there have been numerous media and academic descriptions and depictions of these boomerang children, it could well be that these children feel to some extent disenfranchised, alone, and alienated from the rest of the world.

Translations

adult who has moved back into the parental home after a period of independence — see boomerang kid

See also

• failure to launch

Further reading

• Boomerang Generation on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “boomerang kid, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.