MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
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MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
By Derek Thompson, The Atlantic, August 30,2013
[....] More than a third of Americans between 18 and 31 are currently living with their parents, according to the Current Population Survey.
Seriously. What's going on here, if it's not just the economy?
We can begin to find the answers in the new mammoth Pew Research Report, released just this month, which found a record 21.6 million "Millennials" living at home. The answer boils down to three variables, which I'll sum up as: economics, bachelor's degrees, and bachelors.
[....] when you look at the shift since 2007 in the graph below, something might seem funny to you. Sure, the recession figures are high, but pre-recession figures are high, too. One in two 18-24-year olds were living at home before the crash? And one in seven late-twentysomethings? [....]
Why were so many young adults apparently living at home when unemployment was about 4 percent?
It comes down to a very sneaky definition of "home." In the Current Population Survey that provides these figures, "college students in dormitories are counted as living in the parental home. [....] This is a huge deal for the Millennials-living-at-home figures, because college enrollment increased significantly during the recession [.....]
Comments
The millenial generation was not prepared or trained for independent adult life in the United States. Combine that with the various housing crisis that we talk about here alot since 2007 and, well there you go.
I have lived in Southeast Asia. Most cultures in the world allow for family living - it's nearly a necessity. We are used to excess, wealth and all sorts of individualist philosophies (from consumer capitalism to feminism, etc.) that we really forget that poverty is actually the norm in human history, not the exception.
As for a BA, I actually know several people who got either grad degrees or BAs from the top universities and ending up homeless or living in their car. It's roughly about 50% of the population who have a higher education degree - of any kind. For that many people with advanced degrees to not being do that well - it may be that we are not prioritizing or preparing our children in the right manner to succeed in society.
You can't blame work ethic there - you have to work, obviously, to get any sort of degree. There's obviously something wrong here and it's up to us to decide what it is - expectations and how we communicate those expectations seems to top it, if you ask me.
I know I talk about it alot but the diagnosing of children with mental disorders is about more than drugs - we literally tell children at a young age that they are mental deficient and hince have all the dependency that comes with any sort of mental problem. What you tell your children has consequences and it is sick to blame your kids for the consequences of what you said and did to them.
The difference is that my generation is told they should be ashamed that they have to be dependent to survive - and like my parents' generation was so good at doing to their kids, told that their parents' errors actually represent something wrong with them. This article even coyly seems to suggest that in tone. Lovely people, those Baby Boomers....
by Orion on Sat, 08/31/2013 - 6:03am
by EmmaZahn on Sat, 08/31/2013 - 11:30am
I am confused, sorry. I can be quite dense as you may know by now. The Baby Boomers element is that millenials were raised by them and very often were unprepared for life as a whole. I'm not sure what that has to do with the writer of the article.
Beyond the generational thing, it's really worth remembering that living with your family is not looked down upon but embraced in many cultures. Some cultures have people taking care of their loved ones in old age instead of sending them to nursing homes. This country is obviously in decline and living with your kids will be one thing - we soon won't be able to afford stuff like nursing homes either and will have to take care of our parents as they age.
by Orion on Sat, 08/31/2013 - 5:17pm
My answer is why not?
Families are smaller and houses are larger.
by EmmaZahn on Sat, 08/31/2013 - 11:36am
Exactly. Most American families could benefit from having to get to know each other a little better.
by Orion on Sat, 08/31/2013 - 5:18pm