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Maybe the "Europeanization of America" is at play here. Perhaps in the future it will be normal to live with your parents until they die, and then take over the house. Whole generations comming and going under a single roof. That scares me.
Parents don't give their kids enough drive. Back when you used to be booted out at 18, your survival instinct took over and you figured it out. We hand too many people too much these days. If you have nothing, and are given nothing, you'll figure out how to make a living and how to become a success.
If you're given everything, you have no respect for anything and won't be successful.
The young generations feel like they're entitled to things and have no idea how to become successful, and have no respect for money.
But how does someone who has a college degree, professional licenses and who is smart with their money save any when making only $2,000 a month? In a city like San Diego, that requires living like a peasant because a bedroom (not a house/apartment...a bedroom) costs a minimum of $750/mo to rent, plus the extra money for phone, gas, electric, internet (a necessity these days), car, gas, insurance, auto registration, and food.
Rent 750
Phone 50
Gas/electric 75
Internet 25
Car 230 (pretty cheap car)
Insurance 200 (both health and car lumped together)
Auto Registration 20
Gas 150 (3-4 fillups a month)
That leaves 500 for EVERYTHING else, food, random expenses, tolls on roads/bridges, entertainment, clothing (for work), car repairs, etc. And this is assuming the person is able to live that cheaply. In San Diego it is hard to find rent that cheap.
So this generation is screwed because CEOs make so much more today than they did even 30 years ago. In 1980 (according to the AFL-CIO, I know they're a Union, but the fact is still valid) the average CEO made 42 times their average employee. In 2007 the average CEO made 344 times as much! I'm sorry, but nobody needs to make that much more than their employees unless they are an inventor who is one-of-a-kind. The CEO of an Insurance company does not deserve to make that much more than his employees. Wonder where that increase in pay comes from? THE POCKETS OF THE ENTRY AND MIDDLE LEVEL EMPLOYEE. There's really no other explanation for why nearly all college graduates of the past 5-10 years have had such a tough time making enough money to get by.
It's not about entitlement or the stupid "everyone gets a trophy" BS that has definitely increased. The hard workers are the ones who get the shaft, as those lazy bums would have been lazy bums anyway.
I think it's simple. It's economic. Life costs more today, and our incomes aren't keeping up with the costs. Rents and housing used to cost a fifth of the average person's monthly income. Say the average person paid 200 in rent, that person was making about 1000 dollars a month. Here in Houston, it costs 600 dollars to rent a crappy apartment in a rougher neighborhood. Do you think the average person living in a 600 dollar apartment is making 3000 dollars a month? I think a lot of people ignore economic realities and instead choose to use the situation as a reason to bash young adults.
In cities like San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, NYC or DC, it's even worse.
Here's an ad for the cheapest real posting I could find in San Francisco on Craiglist:
Quote:
$595 Remodeled*Room & bath*near SFSU & CCSF*Noriega St*Quiet*Clean (sunset / parkside) (map)
I have a room with a private bathroom for rent. The apartment was remodeled 2 years ago. Everything inside is completely new. The bedroom is 9 x 10. There is a refridgerator in the apartment and a microwave. No other cooking facilities are available. So, good for those who do not cook. We are on Noriega street and 35th avenue. Near SFSU and City college. Utilities are extra. Available 9/1.
Apartment is only large enough for one person.
please email me your name and cell number and i will call you for an appointment
sorry no pets, one year lease, deposit $900
So for $600/mo (plus a $900 deposit) you can get a 90 square foot room in an apartment without an oven or a stove in a mediocre part of the City.
Sorry, but that's pathetic and there's no reason why a college graduate with a professional job should have to live in such poor conditions, but based on the income levels ($32,000/yr ends up being about 1800/mo) that's the most they can technically afford.
You can't blame young people, most of whom had to work MUCH harder to get into college (the competition for college admissions has skyrocketed, even in the last 15 years. My sister went to U-Penn in 1992 when the acceptance rate was 38.9%, this year it was 16.7%...more twice as hard to get into) and who face a much more competitive job market than ever before. Blame the young people all you want, but it's the greed of the Senior Executives that has caused these problems.
parenting = teaching of life skills. its not happening.
military service is another critical element.
we eradicated from their life everything that made us strong in our life.
as to employment, we have been pushing "more with less" for 20 years
now you gota be functioning at genius level to keep an entry level job.
the good life is over, the party is over.
this is not a recovery, we are about to step off the reef.
I served in the Military (US Navy), but I gotta disagree with the Military being a path to a sucessful adulthood. After all, a massive percentage of Homeless people are Veterans who could not cope with Civilian life.
But how does someone who has a college degree, professional licenses and who is smart with their money save any when making only $2,000 a month? In a city like San Diego, that requires living like a peasant because a bedroom (not a house/apartment...a bedroom) costs a minimum of $750/mo to rent, plus the extra money for phone, gas, electric, internet (a necessity these days), car, gas, insurance, auto registration, and food.
Rent 750
Phone 50
Gas/electric 75
Internet 25
Car 230 (pretty cheap car)
Insurance 200 (both health and car lumped together)
Auto Registration 20
Gas 150 (3-4 fillups a month)
That leaves 500 for EVERYTHING else, food, random expenses, tolls on roads/bridges, entertainment, clothing (for work), car repairs, etc. And this is assuming the person is able to live that cheaply. In San Diego it is hard to find rent that cheap.
So this generation is screwed because CEOs make so much more today than they did even 30 years ago. In 1980 (according to the AFL-CIO, I know they're a Union, but the fact is still valid) the average CEO made 42 times their average employee. In 2007 the average CEO made 344 times as much! I'm sorry, but nobody needs to make that much more than their employees unless they are an inventor who is one-of-a-kind. The CEO of an Insurance company does not deserve to make that much more than his employees. Wonder where that increase in pay comes from? THE POCKETS OF THE ENTRY AND MIDDLE LEVEL EMPLOYEE. There's really no other explanation for why nearly all college graduates of the past 5-10 years have had such a tough time making enough money to get by.
It's not about entitlement or the stupid "everyone gets a trophy" BS that has definitely increased. The hard workers are the ones who get the shaft, as those lazy bums would have been lazy bums anyway.
You have just described my life. I make after taxes $2160./month. My rent just went up to $675. I would've moved to a cheaper place but I didn't have the money to move so now I'm stuck here for another year. Anyway, rent is $675., car payment $270., car insurance $137.(yep, that's per month---I got into 2 car accidents w/in 9 months of each other---oops!), renters insurance $14., cell phone $67. & that is just about the cheapest plan I could get, internet $48., I finally got rid of cable so there goes that expense, student loan $60., credit card $100-150 (they upped my apr to 23%, I don't even use my card anymore because I can't, I literally have no credit line on it so I'm just trying to pay it off), electric bill $40. & netflix $15. (yes, it's a luxury but it's cheaper then renting movies at blockbuster all the time).
Now that leaves me roughly $680. to pay for food, gas, entertainment, cat food, cat litter, clothing (please, I don't even remember the last time I bought any clothes), any sort of items like magazines which I love to read so I'm not giving those up, etc. etc. etc. People may think that's a lot left over but it's laughably not, it's pathetic. I don't know where I can cut corners anymore other than finding a cheaper place to live & I'm intending on doing that but like I said, I'm stuck in another year lease. It's amazing how quickly that money runs out.
I think it's simple. It's economic. Life costs more today, and our incomes aren't keeping up with the costs. Rents and housing used to cost a fifth of the average person's monthly income. Say the average person paid 200 in rent, that person was making about 1000 dollars a month. Here in Houston, it costs 600 dollars to rent a crappy apartment in a rougher neighborhood. Do you think the average person living in a 600 dollar apartment is making 3000 dollars a month? I think a lot of people ignore economic realities and instead choose to use the situation as a reason to bash young adults.
I think this is simplistic...
The reason I think so is that historically speaking, life has always "cost more" from generation to generation, at least for most of the last couple of hundred years.
I have a kid in the market for a house today. That house is going to cost more than mine did when I bought at roughly the same age she is. My house when I first bought cost considerably more than when my parents first bought.
On the flip side, My daughter can expect to make more, (and does, even accounting for inflation, than I did at the same point in life)I made more than my parents, (although my dad made more at the end of his career than I will) etc., etc.
To me the only folks that really had a right to cry "poor, pitiful me" were those coming of age at the start of the Great Depression (which makes what we're going through look like a picnic) or those who came of age in the South immediately following the Civil War...
...and you know what's funny? You don't read of any self-pity from folks then, and I've never heard it from those who came of age during the Great Depression. Wish I could say the same of today's generation...or mine (baby boomer).
No, incomes may not be keeping up with costs right now, and maybe not for some time, but historically speaking this argument doesn't hold true.
I served in the Military (US Navy), but I gotta disagree with the Military being a path to a sucessful adulthood. After all, a massive percentage of Homeless people are Veterans who could not cope with Civilian life.
i respectfully disagree although you have a strong argument that military life did not save all those guys from the ravages of drugs once they leave the military.
my point was that 1 in 3 people under 35 live with mom and dad --almost none have military service. the military guys at least had a stint of making it on their own b4 they folded.
i think ultimately its themselves. note 2 years ago on CDF i would get cypber yelled at for even suggesting a young person seek out VE option in jr college or military for debt free education (my usual pitch was RN) now i am seeing young people posting considering this option more and more. btw what astounds me at this ripe age, is how young people (and some not so young) can be in a state of name calling moral outrage--- and be utterly wrong. being a parent must be hell.
Agreed. I think Jr. College is a great idea to save a bit of money before finishing off at a University, especially if that Jr. college is near your parents home. I tried to join the Air Force but unfortunately due to a medical condition I was not allowed to. All of my teachers at my Jr. College were professors at the local University, so I wasn't missing out on much...except a large tuition bill.
My parents basically let me do my own thing. They were supportive, yes, but for the most part hands off. I didn't have a curfew, didn't get grounded and was able to do pretty much what I wanted, when I wanted. I still graduated a year early from high school, managed a rather large herd of dairy goats, became a county All Star for 4H and participated in state dairy products judging for FFA.
Helicopter parents are annoying... my dad is the president of the Babe Ruth Little League in my area and he is constantly badgered by parents who don't think the coaches are being 'nice enough'. If you're kid can't bat, the coach is supposed to fix that, not tell Little Johnny that everything is alright and give him a pat on the back. sheesh.
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