The new 20-somethings:Why won't they grow up?

mazHur

mazHur

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Thursday, Dec 23, 2010 16:01 ET The new 20-somethings: Why won't they grow up?

They're unemployed, living with their parents and waiting longer to get married. What happened to young adulthood?

By Michelle Fitzsimmons
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iStockphoto/ivstiv/Salon

This is a difficult time to be a young adult in America. As one passage from the new book "Not Quite Adults," by Richard Settersten and Barbara Ray, aptly sums it up: "After two decades on Easy Street," they write, "young adults awoke in early 2009 to a new nickname, Generation R, for 'recession.' All too suddenly, the party was over and only the hangover lay ahead." As of April 2010, the unemployment rate for 20- to 24-year-olds stood at 17.2 percent, nearly double the national average. One half of 18- to 24-year-olds have not left home, a 37 percent increase since 1970. And it’s not just the fresh-out-of-college set: 30 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds live with their parents.
With its telling subtitle: "Why 20-Somethings Are Choosing A Slower Path To Adulthood, And Why It’s Good for Everyone," Settersten and Ray's book gathers eight years of MacArthur Foundation research and hundreds of personal interviews to take the pulse of America’s young adults. Yes, more of them are living at home, delaying other big-person milestones like marriage and child-rearing. But while they sleep in their childhood bedrooms, they are also paying off debt, experimenting with careers and preparing for the time when they are ready to leave the nest and enter a hyper-competitive economy that doesn’t take kindly to failings and missteps.
Barbara Ray spoke to Salon over the phone about the new realities of growing up, why a slow move towards adulthood is a good thing and why older people always think they had it harder.

Read more here....
http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2010/12/23/not_quite_adults_interview
 
My opinion as a parent of a 20 year old & a 24 year old is that they don't see home as a place they desire to get away from like we did growing up. Wanting better for our children than we had for ourselves, we have made our children's lives too easy. They know if and when they leave home they will likely no longer be able to afford the niceties of living at home..ie...cellphones, internet, cable TV. None of those are necessities but this generation does not see those as less than necessities. Unless you have developed a skill which demands a higher entry level salary it is harder to make it than it was when I came along. I never had a room mate beyond college but most young people today find having a room mate or several as their only means to afford rent and utilities if and when they leave home.
 
My dad says that he bought his first flat in London for just three times his annual salary.

If we imagine that graduates on average start on £20,000 (an unconservative estimate, most probably start on much less), I challenge you to find a flat in London for under £200,000 now lol
 
I think it is a shame for a grown man to live with his parents in the absence of a joint-family system. As for grown up girls they sooner or later leave for their own homes after marriage and so long they can stay!

I wanted to leave home even before I graduated but left it immediately after marriage and never lived with my parents again!

I see things the same way and want my grown up boys to get out of the house... get married latest at 25 , build and live in their own world and stay happy!! Ofcourse as a parent I cannot refuse them advancement in life if they need it....
But I tell them NEVER to get a credit card.....try to keep away from loans as much as possible!!

I believe in CASH...only CASH!!:)
 
Zorak said:
My dad says that he bought his first flat in London for just three times his annual salary.

If we imagine that graduates on average start on £20,000 (an unconservative estimate, most probably start on much less), I challenge you to find a flat in London for under £200,000 now lol
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why don't they emigrate to a cheaper country??
In the first place we need more of contraceptive
measures if the economy goes as bad as this.:)
 
Well part of it is that kids are getting lazier, but I think another big part is that it's getting very hard to find a job these days, Since I got laid off from my last job I've put in application after application at every place I can think of and I haven't even had a single call back.
 
in britain we see high property prices and mass immigration......the immigrants are housed as soon as they get here,but the british are put on a very long waiting list.....buying isn't an option either because the immigrants are pushing the average wage down because they're prepared to work for less
 
dkwrtw said:
Well part of it is that kids are getting lazier, but I think another big part is that it's getting very hard to find a job these days, Since I got laid off from my last job I've put in application after application at every place I can think of and I haven't even had a single call back.
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I haven't had a single call back from anywhere I've applied to either. And I've been sending off my CV to places since July.

And I don't see why I should have to move to another country. And it is impossible for me to do so especially as I only speak English (narrows down where I could emigrate to), I don't have a job or any qualifications that other countries look favourably on (eg teaching or nursing).
 
AUFred said:
My opinion as a parent of a 20 year old & a 24 year old is that they don't see home as a place they desire to get away from like we did growing up. Wanting better for our children than we had for ourselves, we have made our children's lives too easy. They know if and when they leave home they will likely no longer be able to afford the niceties of living at home..ie...cellphones, internet, cable TV. None of those are necessities but this generation does not see those as less than necessities. Unless you have developed a skill which demands a higher entry level salary it is harder to make it than it was when I came along. I never had a room mate beyond college but most young people today find having a room mate or several as their only means to afford rent and utilities if and when they leave home.
Click to expand...

:homo: I really believe this, rep for ya hon!
 
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