34.9% of men aged 25 still live at home, while only 22% of women do, with young men being 26 times more likely now to stay living with their mum.

With marriage rates in young men down 97%, it should come as no surprise to hear that there's a large percentage still living with their mums by the age of 25.

New research from the Think Tank, the Centre for Social Justice, has revealed that young men are now 26 times more likely to still be living at home rather than with a partner (if they have one) by the age of 25.

In fact, while only 22% of women of the same age still lived at home, 34.9% of men did, which is nearly one-and-a-half times as many.

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast on these Gen Z stats, Leslie Shoemaker, Counselling Psychologist and Lecturer at TU Dublin explained that the reasons for this are much more complicated than men just not wanting to leave their mum.

She said: "It's a lot more complex than that. This Think Tank research that they put out this year has been fascinating.

"It's got me thinking about what's been happening in the UK in particular over the last number of years and I think there's a lot of that menosphere stuff that's behind it and these unrealistic expectations.

"Think Tank also showed rates of loneliness, mental health issues are increasing in this group of people and I find that quite sad.

"The other thing is, sociologists, they look at big groups, they look at communities and societies, and they've shown consistently when men have a good job and they have the good finances, they get married.

"Whereas in the past, you know, when our parents got married, that was part of the struggle. That was part of the the social contract of getting married.

"We're going to get married and we're going to figure this out together. We're going to get our jobs. We're going to build our nest egg."

When asked if there was a pressure on young men these days to have their lives all set out before being considered as "marriable", Ms Shoemaker shared how she believes it's pressure they're putting on themselves. 

She added: "I have never seen anything saying men have to have this. I think that that's what they think they have to have."

Another factor to consider is the fact that people are living longer than they used to, with the average Irish woman reaching 84 and man to 81.

As a result, the urgency to get married and have kids in your 20s and do all those things that used to be done at that age is gone.

Main image: Mother and son with girlfriend looking on, annoyed. Pic: Iakov Filimonov / Alamy Stock Photo