The stigma of moving back in with family as an adult feels so uniquely American. In Italy, for example, Karen Fingerman, a human-development and family-sciences professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told The Atlantic last year that 67% of 25- to 29-year-olds were living with their parents in 2018, and not just because of housing unavailability; grown children and parents alike tend to find the arrangement rewarding. In other collectivist societies, including my own Indo-Pak Muslim culture, it’s more uncommon to leave home if you’re single — and especially if you’re a single woman — than it is to stay, even if you’re financially stable and thriving. In fact, leaving home might even feel like a rejection to your parents, the way it still seems to make my own father feel.