Why is it so difficult to declare yourself as financially independent?
I think it has a lot to do with generational experience. Most baby boomers and even the older portion of Gen X grew up with probably their father working at one or two jobs his entire career and they got out of school in an environment where the possibilities seemed limitless and they generally entered a job market where the opportunities were better than what their parents faced. It was generally easy to jump into being independent, because there were plenty of opportunities and their parents generally raised them to be independent and self sufficient. Most Millennials grew up with their parents often both working to make ends meet, they probably had at least one parent go through a layoff or two or significant unplanned job change and they are the first generation in the US that is entering a job market where job prospects are not better than what their parents faced. All this combined with that generations desire to live a more balanced work/life experience makes it ok to defer the concept of being independent and facing the world on your own. Also consider that the current generation entering the job market are statistically more likely to have used their parents as a safety net prior to or even after entering the job market, so there is not the same negative social stigma to say you are still living at home as there was 10 - 20 years ago. Those experiences have drawn out the whole concept of leaving the nest and being fiscally independent so it is no longer something that happens seemingly overnight, but it evolves over a longer period of time.