Ian Wood's tale of living at home until the age forty, prompted many of you to contact Home Truths with your own experiences

A parent's view

John wrote: At 42 our eldest son is still at home.

Over the years my wife and I have adopted the 'escape as often as you can' routine. When both boys were at home and in their 20's we had a boat on the Thames for 7 years and every weekend on Friday after work we would disappear and return on Sunday evening and often we would spend a week away. Later when they were in their 30's we had a holiday bungalow near the beach and did the same.

Now we have just the one son left, with a very nice ladyfriend. They have been together for more than 12 years, she lives with her mother and they alternate between homes while we continue to escape.

We have managed to turn the situation to our advantage. We have a fully managed home whilst away and when we need to travel to the airport we have a free chauffeur service.

We do sympathise with him as we know it is not possible for him to own his own house or flat and if he did, he could not afford to do any of the things he currently does.

A child's view

Claire wrote:

My mother told all of us that she expected us to leave home at the age of 18!! Which we all did - I took her so seriously I included leaving the country and now live more than 10,000km away from my parent's home.