Simone Reddington

If you’ve read my blog for a while, you might know that I’ve spent my adult life split between two places. When I was 18, I moved out of the small town in County Durham where I grew up to go to university in Liverpool. I remained there for a couple more years, working in odd jobs in hospitality until the COVID 19 pandemic, when I returned to my parents home at the age of 22. I then secured a full time job in a call centre, where I worked until returning to education in 2022. I wrote last year about my decision to move back to Liverpool (Life Update- I’ve moved to Liverpool! – Simone Reddington (mywordsandrants.blog), 8 years after I first moved there as a teenager.

17 months later, a lot has changed and last week I found myself moving back to the North East. It wasn’t an easy decision and a part of me feels like a failure for living with my parents again at the age of 26. I will always love Liverpool and the area will always stay in my heart as where I became an adult. In fact, I’m already planning to visit the city again in just a couple of weeks as that is where all my friends live. However, things change and my life in the city was nothing like how it was when I moved back to start my Masters course a year last September. My two friends whom I lived with in a house-share have since moved out in the past 12 months, leaving me to live with an assortment of random housemates whom I don’t have anything in common with.  I also completed my university programme last September and have been working in hospitality for the past four months, whilst applying for full-time jobs.  Although I loved my Front of House job where I made lots of dear friends, I discovered a recent decline in my mental health.  I felt that I had no life outside of work and had no sense of relief when I finished a shift like my colleagues did, as I preferred to be at work instead of sitting in my cramped bedroom in a house that didn’t feel like a home.  I needed my own space but also knew that I couldn’t afford to rent a flat on my own with my only income from a casual zero-hour contract.  I worked nearly every single hour that I was offered, just like I did after graduating from my Bachelor’s degree 5 years ago and, as I would go for post-shift drinks with co-workers (many of whom were 7 years younger than me) I realised that I couldn’t spend the rest of my life in the same place doing the same things just waiting for things to get better.  That’s why I decided to start looking for jobs closer to home so that I could move in with my parents and save a money on rent. 

Like I said earlier, my situation is not ideal and feels like a step backwards.  However, it is not unique as more people my age are moving back in with their parents.  The 2021 Census found that 4.9 million non-dependent adults in the UK are now living with their parents, an increase of 14.7% in the last decade.  This been greatly caused by the current cost of living crisis, as the average UK rent in 2024 is now £1059 per month (Homelet.co.uk).  If you’re single or don’t have a housemate to split the bills with, it’s near enough impossible to live alone and be able to afford food, transport to work and any form of social life.

I consider myself to be fortunate as I have a brilliant relationship with both of my parents, who live in a comfortable home.  I start my new office job in Newcastle this week and, although its not the job of my dreams, it offers the stability that I need for now.  I’m looking forward to this next chapter of my life with a slower pace of life, which will consist of early mornings and walks with the dog rather than late nights out.  I don’t know how long I’ll be living at home or what the future holds but, for now, this feels right for me.