Cause and Effect

Because there are so many young people who have had to return to their parents’ homes in the last few years, it would only be natural to wonder about the cause of this dilemma. I see it as a natural outgrowth of an economy where there are simply not enough jobs available that pay enough so that a son or daughter can live independently. It’s my opinion that the overall economy of the country is the problem.

One article I read recently indicated that young people today are undergoing some of the traditional rites of passage at a later age than previous generations. While the age for graduating from high school and getting a job or going to college hasn’t changed, moving out into an apartment or house, marrying and having children are occurring at later and later ages, if at all.

On the other hand, there are people who believe that this generation of twenty to thirty-year-olds were raised by baby-boomer parents who coddled them and handed them everything they wanted so that young adults are unable to make choices for themselves that will permit them to live independently. To these people, we as parents never taught our children about competition. We handed out trophies to everyone on the soccer team, regardless of their skill. And, furthermore, we’ve held on to the responsibility for their problems by allowing them to move back home. We’re enabling them.

And then there’s that nasty word, “entitlement.” It seems that some people think that too many twenty-something’s believe that they have a right to the life-style of their parents--the life-style their parents worked at for thirty or more years--without having experienced the “lean” years where we, as parents, all started.

There may be any number of factors at work behind each individual’s need to move back home. No matter what the cause, this recent problem is becoming more widespread and is disturbing to both generations.