Quote:
Originally Posted by Seeker
I think this is more because of the cost of living side of things. When I got out of HS there's no way that I could have paid today's prices on a room in an apartment with today's a minimum wage job.
So Steve, I think it's not so much that today's generation does not "have the same desire to be independent" -- I think they do have this desire; but I think they have problems seeing themselves being able to survive and get ahead financially with leaving home and thus "living-on-the-edge" and making their lives better through college and career and paying for everything financially as well.
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I wasn't referring to HS grads. I was referring to College grads, who, presumably, will enter a better-than-minimum wage job upon graduation. There are losts of mid and late 20-somethings returning home to mom and dad after getting their degrees.
Is cost of living an issue? Maybe. So get a roommate or 2 or 3. Get a 2nd job. Make your way in life on your own power. Be an adult. That's life.
I think a lot more of the problem is that people want to graduate right into the lifestyle that their parents enjoy now only after working up to that lifestyle for 20 or more years. They don't want to start out like their parents did at the same age. My first apartment was a roach-infested 1-room apartment. I slept on a sofa bed for 2 years. Was it where I really wanted to be? Of course not. But it was what I could afford at the time in the area I needed to be.
I have a friend who is 20 or 21. She is out on her own with no parental support. We hardly ever see her, but did see her this past weekend. She basically works day and night to pay her rent and bills. She doesn't like doing it but that's what she needs to be doing right now to get by.
I have another friend who is a senior in high school. She will be going to college in the fall and has decided to stay at home and commute. Why? Is it because she and her family can't afford room and board? Nope. It is because (by her own admission) she is a "princess" and doesn't want to share a dorm room with another person. What do you think will happen to her after college? How likely is it that she'll be in any hurry to leave the nest and fly?
We all want a better life for our kids, but I think we sometimes do them a disservice in the process. We all need to learn to make our own way in life, not be babied well into adulthood.