Attitude of people in their 20's (licenses, $40,000, borrow, resume)

[griffon652]

Originally Posted by Rambler123

There are two big reasons more young people are living at home now than at any point in time in our recent history:

1) Lack of jobs, in particular ones that pay much of anything. We all know about this, but there's a horrible shortage of jobs in this nation, and many jobs created in recent years are nothing but part-time, poverty-wage work, which is not enough to live on. If I recall, some study was done that showed that minimum wage wasn't enough to rent a 1 bedroom apartment in any state in the nation, so there you go.

2) Overpriced housing: This is the flip side. While the crash of the Housing Bubble knocked prices down, particularly in the most inflated areas, many places still have overpriced housing and rental properties... and prices are going back up again despite wages stagnating.

No amount of positive attitude can overcome these economic realities, and these are the biggest reasons for young people living at home and, in some cases, just giving up on independence.

If someone has a take home pay of at least $1600/month they can manage to live with a roommate and get out of their parents house.

Originally Posted by Whyrallnamestaken

Lack of jobs and overpriced housing isn't the case for every area in the US. I didn't live fancy or have an expensive car and I didn't live in an expensive apartment or have a high salary. I was an adult and I wanted to make and pay my own way.

Now on the flip side of what I said above and in reference to what you said about kids living at home with parents; can you blame them? If they have the option of using that $1600 on themselves vs spending it to live on their own while struggling why would they live on their own? It's not like the parents have a gun to their heads. Its human nature to take advantage of the best situation you can find. Although, overall I agree that millennials are the worst generation, if the parents are letting the kids stay at their house; its more of the parents fault then the kids.

[Rambler123]

Originally Posted by griffon652

If someone has a take home pay of at least $1600/month they can manage to live with a roommate and get out of their parents house.



Now on the flip side of what I said above and in reference to what you said about kids living at home with parents; can you blame them? If they have the option of using that $1600 on themselves vs spending it to live on their own while struggling why would they live on their own? It's not like the parents have a gun to their heads. Its human nature to take advantage of the best situation you can find. Although, overall I agree that millennials are the worst generation, if the parents are letting the kids stay at their house; its more of the parents fault then the kids.

And you answered your own question: at the poverty wages being offered by today's "jobs," they have the option of either living with a roommate or living with their parents. Quite frankly, if those were my choices, I'd rather live with my parents since they are a known entity and won't spring any unexpected drama on me later - they won't steal my stuff, fail to pay their part of the rent, get us evicted for doing something stupid or criminal, etc.

Now, that being said, I'm not in favor of kids living at home and just exploiting the situation by not pitching in a percentage of the money earned to cover expenses or helping their folks out as needed, etc.

Of course, the bigger question is why as a nation we've had choices reduced to living with roommates or parents vs. actually having jobs that pay a decent wage...

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by Rambler123

And you answered your own question: at the poverty wages being offered by today's "jobs," they have the option of either living with a roommate or living with their parents. Quite frankly, if those were my choices, I'd rather live with my parents since they are a known entity and won't spring any unexpected drama on me later - they won't steal my stuff, fail to pay their part of the rent, get us evicted for doing something stupid or criminal, etc.

You would? I usually agree with you Rambler, but I'd take roommates every time. Had them for 15 years or so. Trying to date / have a social life while living at home with parents would stink.

[Rambler123]

Originally Posted by timberline742

You would? I usually agree with you Rambler, but I'd take roommates every time. Had them for 15 years or so. Trying to date / have a social life while living at home with parents would stink.

And I've heard so many roommate horror stories it's soured me on them. The dating thing would be an issue, but better that than some of the crud a roommate can bring (drugs, stolen items, evictions, etc.) Of course, it all depends upon the person and if they *really* know their possible roommate well or not. I suppose there are people I'd trust as a roommate, but speaking of humanity in general, I'd be more included to trust a person's parents not to hose them than their friends.

[griffon652]

Originally Posted by Rambler123

And you answered your own question: at the poverty wages being offered by today's "jobs," they have the option of either living with a roommate or living with their parents. Quite frankly, if those were my choices, I'd rather live with my parents since they are a known entity and won't spring any unexpected drama on me later - they won't steal my stuff, fail to pay their part of the rent, get us evicted for doing something stupid or criminal, etc.

Now, that being said, I'm not in favor of kids living at home and just exploiting the situation by not pitching in a percentage of the money earned to cover expenses or helping their folks out as needed, etc.

Of course, the bigger question is why as a nation we've had choices reduced to living with roommates or parents vs. actually having jobs that pay a decent wage...

You realize that my questions were rhetorical right? I was completely agreeing with your previous post regarding why millennials staying at home wasn't their fault.

[Geo-Aggie]

It's not like you can't get a job if you just get a useful degree and try hard enough.

I think a big part of the Boomer/Gen-X complaint about our generation is that when we're 18-24 years old, we are going to college, but we're not going to college as much to prepare for a career as we are for the college experience. A STEM (Sci/Tech/Eng/Math) field degree is hard. You often find yourself passing on parties to study. So many of those people drop out to go study something easier so they can hang out more. Then your graduate with your psychology degree and move back home to accumulate debt on your $30,000 of loans because your degree is useless.

I'll agree on the price points of everything. The world is certainly now priced for a 45 year old mid-career professional who can afford a $250,000 home and the hundreds of thousands it costs to raise a child. We can't. This is why we're not buying homes or having families yet. We can't afford to. It's not that we can't budget. We do that just fine (we're not the ones who don't have enough to retire and have amassed bazillions in credit card debt) we just know we can't afford a $1,600 mortgage off of a $2-3,000/mo salary. If we're going to have to live in a $800/mo apartment complex with some shady characters, because that's all the real estate market allows us to comfortably afford... we don't want to raise kids in that.

(I'm not even talking about truly expensive cities, but rather my local moderately priced Salt Lake City market. If you're in NYC, LA, SF or Miami.. forget it.)

[mkpunk]

Originally Posted by Whyrallnamestaken

Lack of jobs and overpriced housing isn't the case for every area in the US. I didn't live fancy or have an expensive car and I didn't live in an expensive apartment or have a high salary. I was an adult and I wanted to make and pay my own way.

These two problems are more of the rule at this point in time rather than the exception. You can't exactly "make your own bed" when you don't have two dimes to rub together because there is a lack of jobs you could get. The problem with many jobs is how much companies think they need for the job such as an associates or bachelor's degree along with experience rather than ether/or.

Originally Posted by timberline742

You would? I usually agree with you Rambler, but I'd take roommates every time. Had them for 15 years or so. Trying to date / have a social life while living at home with parents would stink.

I would pick the parents and help with shopping here and there, pay for my own DVDs, video games, concerts, gas, ect. and start saving up the rest. It's not as much about knowing the roommates, it is because one would have more spending cash if they do not have to pay for a half, a third, a quarter of or even the full rent per month.

The dating life is kind of changing. More and more realize it is the cost savings as I stated above so while it may not be ideal, it is the best they can do.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by Rambler123

And I've heard so many roommate horror stories it's soured me on them. The dating thing would be an issue, but better that than some of the crud a roommate can bring (drugs, stolen items, evictions, etc.) Of course, it all depends upon the person and if they *really* know their possible roommate well or not. I suppose there are people I'd trust as a roommate, but speaking of humanity in general, I'd be more included to trust a person's parents not to hose them than their friends.

Fair enough. I've had a few roommate issues over the years, but not too many, and mostly found places on CL. It works out generally. Anything is better than living at home!

I also never wanted to be in the same city as my folks after undergrad (or during it) either, so...

[mkpunk]

Originally Posted by Rambler123

And I've heard so many roommate horror stories it's soured me on them. The dating thing would be an issue, but better that than some of the crud a roommate can bring (drugs, stolen items, evictions, etc.) Of course, it all depends upon the person and if they *really* know their possible roommate well or not. I suppose there are people I'd trust as a roommate, but speaking of humanity in general, I'd be more included to trust a person's parents not to hose them than their friends.

I've had the horror stories from various ones.

1. hooking up without asking your roomie to leave (when sharing rooms)
2. drunk someone else's milk without asking (I only knew cause it was still unopened that morning)
3. verbal fights
4. dirty common areas (including bathtubs with hair)
5. loud parties in the apartment
6. teen drinking

I've had a few and I am sure sometimes I've not been that good of a roommate but that happens when you are mainly at home just to sleep and eat a single meal because you are running around with your job, chores classes, ect. and are just plucked in with people when they need a fourth or sixth and you need a place too.

[panderson1988]

Originally Posted by griffon652

If someone has a take home pay of at least $1600/month they can manage to live with a roommate and get out of their parents house.



Now on the flip side of what I said above and in reference to what you said about kids living at home with parents; can you blame them? If they have the option of using that $1600 on themselves vs spending it to live on their own while struggling why would they live on their own? It's not like the parents have a gun to their heads. Its human nature to take advantage of the best situation you can find. Although, overall I agree that millennials are the worst generation, if the parents are letting the kids stay at their house; its more of the parents fault then the kids.

A roommate isn't always a good idea, especially if they fall short on rent. That happen with my friends and they lost power a few times due to one or two people being short on cash.

Also you can't live on $1600 on your own in any major city nowadays. I live 20 miles from my job in the Chicago area, and my rent is $885 for a one bedroom place in the burbs. That is over half of $1600 pay, and in the city a studio at best is $800, or if you want to live in south Chicago with the gangs and high murder rate you can find a a place maybe for $600 to $700. Then our sales tax is 9% in cook county, in the city it's over 10%. Also the city has little things they nickel and dime you to death like an amusement tax when you see a movie. Then add in a $100 CTA monthly pass for city dwellers, but I live in the suburbs and it's a $135 for my train pass. Then a $1.50 a day for parking. Then if you have a car you have to pay about a $100 in parking depending in my neighborhood in Chicago, but I live in the burbs and have parking at my apartment. I have my car to visit family who live in the outskirts and to go to dad's home cheaply as I don't want to pay $200 in airline fees, then a rental car. Then my health insurance, which is required by law technically, is over over a $120 a month. This is common for most HMO plans, but at my old place it was $230 a month for a basic HMO. Then add in required car insurance which is $600 for a 6 month span.

I have here basic costs to survive, as in you must pay them to survive, or to avoid any legal implications. With most starting salaries between $25-$35 grand it isn't easy to get by. Especially for $1600 a month as you can barely afford groceries with the rapid increase in meat prices recently. The problem is you act like kids are lazy or spend $50 on the bar on the evening. In reality our incomes are flat-lining while inflation for basics continues to rise. I'm fortunate heat is covered in my rent as people throughout the midwest and northeast paid record prices this winter. Especially with a propane shortage. Don't tell me turning the thermostat down to 65 degrees when it's -20 like it was for me in January will keep my bill down as it didn't for anybody in the midwest.