„Boomeranging covidowy” – o powrotach dorosłych dzieci do domów. Perspektywa rodziców
Covid Boomeranging: The Return of Adult Children. Parents’ Perspective

Summary/Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the situation of many families. The introduced restrictions on movement along with the subsequent closing of borders halted traffic throughout the existing communication routes. Young adults who have (recently) been living on their own – working, studying, building intimate relationships – found themselves in a situation in which they returned and started living at home again with their parents, siblings, families, and sometimes with their partners. For some families, such returns can translate into an improvement in the quality of their relationships. For others, the return can be a difficult and demanding experience for one or both sides. Working out ways to move around in a shared space can prove to be a challenge, as can the potential return to the roles of a child and a parent living under one roof again. The returns and the motivations behind them, provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic, are of a different nature than those usually described. What is characteristic of them is their sudden nature as well as the common ways of rationalization visible in the economic, health (e.g. in the meaning of ensuring the safety of the loved ones in light of a crisis situation), and relational spheres. However, the experience of “Covid returns” can permanently change the image of entering adulthood by increasing openness to the stage of living back in the family home. By means of presenting five cases of children returning home during the pandemic, this article demonstrates the practices of adaptation to new family situations and new spatial solutions, while at the same time reflecting different variants and effects of a temporary shifting back in time to the situation of a full nest.

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