One of the reasons for the stagnate economy, lack of participation of young ad

[SEIndSAM]

Wow, this really caught my eye,
"The report shows that 24 million 18- to 34-year-olds lived in their parents' home in 2015, the most on record."


Report: 1 in 3 U.S. young adults live with parents, 2.2M are 'idle' - UPI.com

 

[Leo]

What do we expect? The PC worshiping crowd has a whole generation trained with only being offended, whining, playing video games and using social media as life skills. There is also a sense of entitlement that the world, as an extension of their parents owe them whatever they want.

The world of Psych has multiple study's of mothers who have driven away their husbands training their boys to be co dependent. This is a twisted way of making the woman feel valuable. I personally know a dozen or so in that boat.

Buy those who don't want to leave their childhood a new pair of shoes and a suitcase, then show them the door, explaining how interested you will be to hear how they work everything out.

 

[HoughMade]

Wow, this really caught my eye,
"The report shows that 24 million 18- to 34-year-olds lived in their parents' home in 2015, the most on record."


Report: 1 in 3 U.S. young adults live with parents, 2.2M are 'idle' - UPI.com

They asked the wrong people what it meant to be an adult.

I don't ask a law student what it takes to be a good lawyer. I ask a good lawyer. Young people who have never lived an adult life are not qualified to opine upon what being an adult means.

Parents need to parent. It's one thing to take an adult child in temporarily when some sort of unfortunate event happens....but making it a lifestyle? Nope.

My parents didn't throw me out. It was me. I couldn't imagine living with them after I finished college. It was incomprehensible and a sign of failure in those days. Like so many other things, what was formerly looked down upon is now seen as normal.

 

[SEIndSAM]

They asked the wrong people what it meant to be an adult.

I don't ask a law student what it takes to be a good lawyer. I ask a good lawyer. Young people who have never lived an adult life are not qualified to opine upon what being an adult means.

Parents need to parent. It's one thing to take an adult child in temporarily when some sort of unfortunate event happens....but making it a lifestyle? Nope.

My parents didn't throw me out. It was me. I couldn't imagine living with them after I finished college. It was incomprehensible and a sign of failure in those days. Like so many other things, what was formerly looked down upon is now seen as normal.

I am 55....I left home when I was 18 and except for a 2-3 week period while waiting for an apartment to open up, I never returned. Has said above, with my peers, if you wasn't still in college and was still living at home, there was something wrong with you. I was broke at that age and had to do the room-mates thing a couple of times, but I survived.

 

[T.Lex]

When dealing with populations, "the most on record" doesn't necessarily mean much. We have more PEOPLE than ever. Presented as a ratio per 100k or something would be more helpful for context.

There are more guns publicly available in the US than ever before. That doesn't mean gun rights are more secure than they ever have been.

 

[HoughMade]

I lived poor in my 20s. I lived without a lot of things my parents had...that they had earned​. Living poor when young isn't failure. Living dependent is.

 

[T.Lex]

To play devil's advocate... (please, try to disguise your surprise).

Back in the day, even in my youth, it was still "normal" for one parent to be the breadwinner and the mom to stay home. Society was moving away from that, even my own household, but that was the usual situation.

Now, both parents working is the norm, from what I can tell. Part of that is because it is more expensive to "live" in the keeping-up-with-the-joneses mentality that has only become more prevalent with the rise of social media.

I'm somewhat skeptical that the cost of living alone has tracked with incomes in the last 20 years.

Now, having roommates all living independently was part of the process, too. And that seems to have fallen by the wayside a bit (I'm not really in touch with that demographic, so I could be wrong). Just saying that the Millenials-are-lazy trope, while containing more than a kernel of truth, may not be the full explanation.

 

[dozer13]

I'm just outside of that demographic {36} but today's economy is horrible. Which can explain some of those numbers (yes, some people are just lazy). I moved out when i was 15 {mother was a drunk, no father never met him} i have lived in some of the crappiest places you can think of and just in my years of renting, I've seen rents sky rocket here in southern IN when i was 20, A 3 bedroom house would rent for $450-500 now close to $1000-1350. When I was 18 making $9 an hour i did OK but after 2008-9 good luck finding even a factory job in the area willing to pay more than $10-11. (Not making excuses I taught my self how to repair computers now make $20-25 an hour self employed) There are not enough jobs that pay living wages ( I put myself through Ivy Tech{community collage} now $9470 in debt{just school loans}) and that was a struggle {didn't expect it to be easy}. Before that getting a job was a joke, minimum wage is a joke ( shouldn't be expected to be a career wage but even for 2-3 years to get through collage good luck). Took me 3 years to get the credits needed to get my degree had classes 3 days a week, 2 classes Mon. Wed. 4 hours between my 3 hour classes ( 12 hour day) 1 3 hour am class on Fri.( my degree is useless to boot Web development which a dozen websites do it for free an 100 more {screw you Go Daddy} will do it for a couple bucks). It's been said the American dream has died... for me a father of 3 it's became a nightmare I worry daily about what opportunities are their going to be when my children are of age?

 

[AtTheMurph]

The reason they don't have jobs is because we borrowed all the future growth from their futures and spent it. How can we have growth with $20T of current debt to manage and close to $200T of debt already accounted for in the future?

 

[miguel]

A variation on T.Lex's theme...

Until the industrial revolution, young unmarried women didn't live on their own until they started a family and young men stayed and worked on the family farm or learned a trade until they had enough to start out on their own.

Modernism has conditioned everyone to think, "You're 18, so you gotta go!" which has turned millions of unprepared humans (by experience) into consumers of apartments, eating out, credit card debt, etc. So now, we stand there, gasping, "Oh my God, the economy! Young people! Disaster looms!"

This was the human condition for centuries until douchebagist consumerism overtook us.

 

[SEIndSAM]

I'm just outside of that demographic {36} but today's economy is horrible. Which can explain some of those numbers (yes, some people are just lazy). I moved out when i was 15 {mother was a drunk, no father never met him} i have lived in some of the crappiest places you can think of and just in my years of renting, I've seen rents sky rocket here in southern IN when i was 20, A 3 bedroom house would rent for $450-500 now close to $1000-1350. When I was 18 making $9 an hour i did OK but after 2008-9 good luck finding even a factory job in the area willing to pay more than $10-11. (Not making excuses I taught my self how to repair computers now make $20-25 an hour self employed) There are not enough jobs that pay living wages ( I put myself through Ivy Tech{community collage} now $9470 in debt{just school loans}) and that was a struggle {didn't expect it to be easy}. Before that getting a job was a joke, minimum wage is a joke ( shouldn't be expected to be a career wage but even for 2-3 years to get through collage good luck). Took me 3 years to get the credits needed to get my degree had classes 3 days a week, 2 classes Mon. Wed. 4 hours between my 3 hour classes ( 12 hour day) 1 3 hour am class on Fri.( my degree is useless to boot Web development which a dozen websites do it for free an 100 more {screw you Go Daddy} will do it for a couple bucks). It's been said the American dream has died... for me a father of 3 it's became a nightmare I worry daily about what opportunities are their going to be when my children are of age?

This post (and I knew someone would post a story like this) is what I expected.

In watching my nieces and nephews, who are 25 to 36, I am seeing a very similar story played out time and time again. The only ones who have steady employment are the ones with either nursing or teaching credentials.

I have one nephew who has a very similar story. He has a 4 year degree in computer sciences. After grad, he took a job in Dallas and worked for 5 or 6 years at a good salary. Then his company brought in a bunch of Indian programmers at half the salary and let everyone else go...

The nephews that only have a HS degree are stuck in low paying factory jobs or truck driving. It has really been tough for this age group as the decent paying factory jobs have dried up.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

A variation on T.Lex's theme...

Until the industrial revolution, young unmarried women didn't live on their own until they started a family and young men stayed and worked on the family farm or learned a trade until they had enough to start out on their own.

Modernism has conditioned everyone to think, "You're 18, so you gotta go!" which has turned millions of unprepared humans (by experience) into consumers of apartments, eating out, credit card debt, etc. So now, we stand there, gasping, "Oh my God, the economy! Young people! Disaster looms!"

This was the human condition for centuries until douchebagist consumerism overtook us.

That's a solid point, and also one I hadn't considered. Many cultures still abide by that.

In one breath, we deride the spending/debt of the young who aren't looking out for their future...then insist they jump into the housing market (either as buyers or renters) well before their income is ready for it. Wages have not kept up with the cost of living, especially entry level wages. Non-entry level jobs take more skills today than they used to, those jobs are done overseas or by machines, or both. The economy is different.

That said, even though I intellectually grasp your point and even agree with it...I can't overcome my conditioning. I would have felt like a failure to live with my parents at 18. Luckily, my Uncle Sam let me move in with him. Well, he provided a room for me and a bunch of his other nephews, anyway.

 

[miguel]

That's a solid point, and also one I hadn't considered. Many cultures still abide by that.

In one breath, we deride the spending/debt of the young who aren't looking out for their future...then insist they jump into the housing market (either as buyers or renters) well before their income is ready for it. Wages have not kept up with the cost of living, especially entry level wages. Non-entry level jobs take more skills today than they used to, those jobs are done overseas or by machines, or both. The economy is different.

That said, even though I intellectually grasp your point and even agree with it...I can't overcome my conditioning. I would have felt like a failure to live with my parents at 18. Luckily, my Uncle Sam let me move in with him. Well, he provided a room for me and a bunch of his other nephews, anyway.

Yeah, it is a tough position to be in at 18 - 22 years of age! Very few people are on the fast track financially, emotionally and intellectually at that point in their lives.

If I can stereotype, I think Asian cultures have done a decent job of keeping the extended family together (multi-generational living...) and still making economic progress. Granted they do lack the "Go west young (wo)man/whatever!" spirit that was the driver of the cult of American "freedom".

 

[avboiler11]

I would be more interested to see the 23-34 demographic (ie. beyond undergrad in college).

I would also submit this says more about PARENTS than it does "kids".

 

[Leadeye]

I remember being young, living in a ratty apartment at 42nd and Post, it's how life starts. Today many young people are consumed by images that TV and social media bombard them with every day, saying spend, spend, spend or you're not cool! I've been surprised over the years meeting folks that eat out constantly, go to sporting events and have expensive electronics who don't understand balancing a budget. Maybe it's just the times, looking at today's leadership as an example they just spend money like they are printing it, which they are.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I remember being young, living in a ratty apartment at 42nd and Post, it's how life starts. Today many young people are consumed by images that TV and social media bombard them with every day, saying spend, spend, spend or you're not cool! I've been surprised over the years meeting folks that eat out constantly, go to sporting events and have expensive electronics who don't understand balancing a budget. Maybe it's just the times, looking at today's leadership as an example they just spend money like they are printing it, which they are.

.

When I first left the Army, I lived in a literal shack in the woods. No hot water heater, the house was heated with wood and kerosene, no AC for two years then I got a window unit, etc. I went to school and worked for about $9/hr at an entry level IT job. I worked construction on the side.

I couldn't afford to do that today on that pay. Kerosene alone would eat me alive. I couldn't afford to drive from my property to Louisville. Entry level wages have in no way kept up with the cost of living. Figure you're taking home about $1100 a month on a full time job at $9/hr. There's not much "cool spending" that needs to be done before your budget is tapped. A buddy of mine who's ten years older than me bought a house and started a family in Sellersburg on $10/hr as a packer at a factory. The wages are about the same...you ain't buying a house on that today though, even in Sellersburg.

 

[Leo]

I rented a house with 5 other guys for a start. That made rent $33 per month each. Even working part time,minimum wage ($2.10) you could get by and still save some money.

We also did not have a $500 phone with a $100 a month service plan considered a "necessity", and looked for opportunities to earn more/work up in the job, not see how little we could get by with and take off work for every little thing.

 

[Leadeye]

.

When I first left the Army, I lived in a literal shack in the woods. No hot water heater, the house was heated with wood and kerosene, no AC for two years then I got a window unit, etc. I went to school and worked for about $9/hr at an entry level IT job. I worked construction on the side.

I couldn't afford to do that today on that pay. Kerosene alone would eat me alive. I couldn't afford to drive from my property to Louisville. Entry level wages have in no way kept up with the cost of living. Figure you're taking home about $1100 a month on a full time job at $9/hr. There's not much "cool spending" that needs to be done before your budget is tapped. A buddy of mine who's ten years older than me bought a house and started a family in Sellersburg on $10/hr as a packer at a factory. The wages are about the same...you ain't buying a house on that today though, even in Sellersburg.

Indiucky was right, you do have hillbilly cred!

 

[IndyTom]

I lived at home for a short period after college, but I also had a job that had me out of the country for weeks at a time on a project. Once that was done (the project), I got an apartment and started following "the script." (wife/house/kids/etc.) I think there are a lot of guys out there who aren't falling for/following that script these days because they realize that it puts them at risk given the current trends in marriage and divorce.

A lot of them are helping their folks out by paying rent and/or for utilities/groceries and the like. If you aren't worried about trying to woo a girl, why do you need to move out? On the other side of that, I knew a number of girls who were living "on their own" (usually with a roommate) who were definitely not making it on their own as their parents were paying their rent/utilities/car payment/insurance. That certainly didn't teach them anything about standing on their own two feet and probably put their parents in a worse position than if they had just lived under their roof until they were ready. That, unfortunately, can also lead to the children who never move out and start popping out random kids who they foist off on their folks for care, but that's another story.

 

[DRob]

I rented a house with 5 other guys for a start. That made rent $33 per month each. Even working part time,minimum wage ($2.10) you could get by and still save some money.

We also did not have a $500 phone with a $100 a month service plan considered a "necessity", and looked for opportunities to earn more/work up in the job, not see how little we could get by with and take off work for every little thing.

$500 phone!?!? The wife just bought one for her sister. Does everything but mow the lawn and shovel the walk but it's closer to $800. There are "kids" out there doing well but they are not the ones we often hear about. Good place for this. Yeah, I know you've heard it before. Hear it again. https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-mozilla-002&hsimp=yhs-002&hspart=mozilla&p=millenial+song#id=1&vid=49da46c40eb85efc71b46a346e0ac8ae&action=click