Carolyn Tanaka of Kailua is happy to be a landing pad for her three grown children ... temporarily.

"Could I have them come and live in my house for a year or two or three?" Tanaka, mother of two 20-something daughters and a college-student son, didn't skip a beat before answering: "No."

When the class of 2008 graduates this spring, nearly half are expected to move back home, according to Susan Shaffer, co-author of "Mom, Can I Move Back in with You? A Survival Guide for Parents of Twentysomethings." They're called Boomerangers, and their number has remained pretty consistent since the dot-com bust, she says, a result of financial and social pressures unknown to previous generations.

The economy isn't entirely to blame: This year's job outlook is better than last year's, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, with companies planning to hire 8 percent more recent graduates this year.

Still, wages for new grads haven't kept pace with inflation — and rising student loan and credit card debt and a troubled housing market make a return to the nest more likely, experts say.

Today's 20-somethings also have better relationships with their parents — they don't mind trading in their independence, and their parents are OK with having them come home.

"It's become the norm for recent grads to move back home," says Alexandra Robbins, author of "Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis."

According to 2006 Census figures, 46.7 percent of women and 53.7 percent of men ages 18 to 24 still live at home, although those numbers include college students living in dorms. For ages 25 to 34, 14.3 percent of men lived with their parents in 2006, compared to 10.9 percent in 1960.

Robbins says 20-somethings can't afford to be independent these days. "Even before this latest downturn, this generation was not earning the same wages that their parents earned, taking inflation into consideration," she says.

Of course, starting salaries have never been high — even Baby Boomers made low wages in their first post-college gig, says Anna Ivey, an admissions and career consultant.

But 73 percent of today's graduating seniors will leave college with an average of about $23,000 in student loans, according to the Student Monitor Spring 2008 Recruitment study. And the average outstanding balance on undergraduate credit cards was $2,169, according to a 2004 Nellie Mae survey, the most recent year available.

"They might have good jobs, but they are also graduating with a lot of debt," Ivey says. "That can make it hard to meet basic expenses once they are out of college."

COMFORTS OF HOME

Many graduates are also reluctant to compromise on the expensive lifestyle they've come to enjoy, says Nicholas Aretakis, author of "No More Ramen: The 20-something's Real World Survival Guide."

Luxuries like cell phones, iPods and digital cable have become essential to them, so they go into shock when they enter the work force and realize how much basics like health insurance and gas cost, says Aretakis.

And with parents not pulling up the welcome mat, it's more comfortable for young adults to come home, says Frances Goldscheider, a demographer and co-author of "The Changing Transition to Adulthood: Leaving and Returning Home."

"The Baby Boom generation is much more egalitarian," Goldscheider says. "They don't tell their children, 'As long as you are under my roof, you have to do it my way,' the way their parents did to them."

When Melissa Jenkins received her college diploma last year, she was ready to get on with life — and move in with her parents.

The 23-year-old from North Reading, Mass., was saddled with student loans from her years at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire and felt she had no solid career prospects.

"It didn't make sense for me to move out on my own," she says. "I didn't have the appropriate funds. I was searching for a career path."

LONG- OR SHORT-TERM

Carolyn Carbery, 53, of St. Louis, says she made very few rules when her son moved back after graduating from DePaul University last year to look for a job. She says it's been fun having him around.

"When he moves, I'm going to be sad," she says. "I'm hoping he stays fairly close."

And most returning grads do move out within a couple of years, says Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, author of "Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens through the Twenties."

As for Tanaka and her clan, they like spending time together — "we stay in touch and go on trips together," she says — but they get on so much better when she and her husband, admitted "control freaks," have a little space.

"Whenever something happens, they'll always be a place to go home to, but it isn't gonna be for a long, long time," she says. "It's a little stopover until you get everything worked out."

Her daughter, Brooke Wilson, says she, her younger sister and college-aged brother know they're always welcome, then quoted her mother as adding: "As long as you don't get too comfortable."

The three siblings have a lot of experience with boomeranging, says Brooke Wilson, 28.

In March, she was living with roommates, but decided as an account executive at McNeil Wilson Communications, she was done with dorm-style life. When the lease came up, she needed a stopover for a while.

"I was able to use my parents' place for two months, rent-free, while I looked for a place and found a single roommate," Brooke Wilson says.

Her younger sister, Hollis, 24, too, found refuge when she split with her boyfriend and ended up home "until she was able to regather herself," Brooke Wilson says.

"They say, 'You can stay here, too, but there are going to be rules,' " says Brooke Wilson. "We try not to stay there too long because they're your parents and you've gotta hit the road again as soon as you can."

Brooke Wilson doesn't fault her parents for worrying if she's out late — she's been there herself, when she and Hollis shared quarters and big sis waited anxiously for the door to open in the wee hours marking a safe return. It's part and parcel of family ties.

"My sister said it best: 'I love Mom and Dad, but they treat me like I'm 16 and I can only take that for two months.' "