With Georgia’s unemployment rate at 9 percent – the highest in 20 years – finding a job is difficult for some, causing some students to move back home with their parents.

The recession has had particularly harsh effects on college students because many graduates from the previous year have had job offers rescinded or lost their jobs, said Christopher Cornwell, head of the economics department.

Living at home can offer benefits.

“The idea is to keep the cost of living low while searching for a job until [graduates] can afford living on their own,” Cornwell said.

Martha Cohen, a senior from Macon, said it is a way to “have a stable base” until she can find a job. “If anything presents itself, I will be willing to do it, but there aren’t many options.”

Many students are forced to accept small, part-time jobs, like Kamilah Amir-Al-Sharif, a senior from Decatur.

“I don’t want to settle, but I will try to go back to Six Flags if I can’t find a job because I used to work there,” she said. “Finding a job is a nightmare. I have applied for 15 jobs that I was qualified for, but no one is hiring entry-level positions.”

She said she would avoid living at home, but she will “bite the bullet” if necessary.

Moving back can be stressful on the parent-child relationship, said Nancy Hollett-Wright, a temporary assistant professor of child and family development.

“Because young adults have been independent and must now be dependent on their parents financially but not emotionally or psychologically, parent and child need to renegotiate their relationship,” she said. Hollett-Wright advised students to “work on changing these types of relationships as you go home to visit because that’s when you take the steps toward developing different types of relationships with parents.”