How self sufficient are recent college graduates? Where do parents stand? (San Jose: real estate, apartment)

[Coco012000]

I hear all this stuff about college grads having problems finding jobs. At the same time I've read a lot of articles saying adult children need to stand on their own two feet.

This generations college grads parents lost their homes to the "mortgage crisis", the finical aid tells college students their middle class family makes enough to help them pay for college (leaving college students racking up loan debt). And from what I hear, companies don't want to hire entry level.

Is this a true situation for college grads? Are parents helping their adult kids because of this economy?

In other countries, families bond strengths for survival in economic hardship. What is the experience in the US?

If your 0-3years out of college, what kind of situation are you or have you been in?

[PhoenixSomeday]

I guess it depends on what you mean by self sufficient. In the basic meaning of the word? Yeah I suppose. I work retail and rent a room, I've been on my own for 3 years now. I don't get help from anyone. If my parents hadn't moved out to Missouri 3 years ago, I'd probably be helping them; definitely not the other way around. Do I want to be renting a room in someone's house and working retail? F*** no. But --->

Originally Posted by anthony052007

And from what I hear, companies don't want to hire entry level.

there's this. I graduated in 07, but no dice since then (in a field I shouldn't have done to begin with). I've been going to community college since 08 working on a programming AA (I don't have a class every quarter, but when I do, it's one. So it's slow going). I was about to apply for the internship program the school was jointly sponsoring with NASA, but it vaporized the quarter before I was going to apply. Companies don't want to hire around here unless you have 3-5+ years experience, even for just an entry level (and internal internship programs want 1-2 years experience, figure that s*** out....). So basically, in 99% of cases, you need to already be in a particular field in order to get a job, which already counts grads out. Or know someone. Or get lucky.

So, our types are stuck working retail, fast food, service, standing on corners waving real estate signs, etc. and trolling the job listings each day looking for opportunities, trying to make connections, etc.

My landlord (64, lived here since he was 10) said he's seen bad times come and go before, but he said this is the worst he's ever seen it, and it's lasting longer than any others before.

[Coco012000]

I'm more referring to working in a career path, not dead end. Right now, I'm wondering what my degree is worth and how much it's going to help verse the debt that just seems to hurt.

[5thgenSF]

Originally Posted by PhoenixSomeday

My landlord (64, lived here since he was 10) said he's seen bad times come and go before, but he said this is the worst he's ever seen it, and it's lasting longer than any others before.

yep, i agree with that completely. i was born and raised in the bay area, left in the dot com crash of '01. would never have left if i could find another way but i didn't have gobs of money to try and wait it out. trying to get back there but first have to let the house foreclose and then start all over fresh! i'm almost 55 so it's really almost too late for me. but i sure feel for you young people that have no place to even START! i've lost everything in this crappy economy and i know i'm not alone there.

[hsw]

Who forced these allegedly responsible parents to have kids they couldn't afford to raise/educate?

And did these parents educate/guide these kids re: career choices and efficient educational choices?

Why is it taxpayers' fault when idiot parents choose to have idiot kids they can't afford or buy a house they can't afford or not choose to upgrade own skills (during their ample eves/wkends) so their own job isn't automated/outsourced?

Personal freedom is deeply intertwined w/personal responsibility.....commies may want state making these choices and having state pay for all the mistakes....can't have private freedoms and expect society to pay for one's own screw-ups/laziness....ask our EU welfare clowns how that's working out as their 50yo Ponzi scheme unwinds

[Coco012000]

Originally Posted by hsw

Who forced these allegedly responsible parents to have kids they couldn't afford to raise/educate?

And did these parents educate/guide these kids re: career choices and efficient educational choices?

Why is it taxpayers' fault when idiot parents choose to have idiot kids they can't afford or buy a house they can't afford or not choose to upgrade own skills (during their ample eves/wkends) so their own job isn't automated/outsourced?

Personal freedom is deeply intertwined w/personal responsibility.....commies may want state making these choices and having state pay for all the mistakes....can't have private freedoms and expect society to pay for one's own screw-ups/laziness....ask our EU welfare clowns how that's working out as their 50yo Ponzi scheme unwinds

Interesting point of view. My thought is more that families should bond together rather than taxpayer pay. Even for the mortgage crisis, I would think families would bond together. But the average common man isn't the one to blame for our current economy problems. There is a huge wage gap issue, and layoff, and manufacturing jobs going over seas, and American companies getting visas to hire people over seas without hiring American workers. A lot has changed in the past 5-10 years.

[5thgenSF]

Originally Posted by anthony052007

Interesting point of view. My thought is more that families should bond together rather than taxpayer pay. Even for the mortgage crisis, I would think families would bond together. But the average common man isn't the one to blame for our current economy problems. There is a huge wage gap issue, and layoff, and manufacturing jobs going over seas, and American companies getting visas to hire people over seas without hiring American workers. A lot has changed in the past 5-10 years.

i think you have it right. and from what i'm seeing (to get back to your question) is that whether a degree helps or not depends on what it is. the tech sector is certainly one of the better places to be. i think this new thing about needing experience before you can have a job is just one more excuse given so few jobs are left. and jobs that used to need a four year degree sometimes are now requiring five or six. plus the increased cost of education. lots of things need to change soon. and lots of kids are not out thriving on their own two feet. certainly not here in oregon either!

[sonarrat]

I went to a low-cost state college, worked evenings at school to help with my parents' expenses, had no debt on graduating in 2005 with a music degree. After resting for the summer, I struck out. I was working 2 jobs, one that related to my degree and one part-time $9 throwaway, and had moved out of my parents' home by October. But I moved only to shorten the commute - it was a $700 room in a family house in the Silicon Valley. After a year I got a better job on the peninsula, so I rented an apartment. Then it moved back to San Jose and I upgraded to a crappy, but inexpensive rental house ($1200).

You'll notice that nowhere in this did I need or ask any help from my parents, beyond housing during and shortly after college. There was one time it was needed - my apartment in SSF was subjected to a fire started in someone else's unit. I tolerated the 2 hour commute from my parents' house for about two weeks before I realized I just couldn't do that anymore, and found another apartment until my old building in SSF was recovered and reopened.

[EdJS]

Originally Posted by hsw

Who forced these allegedly responsible parents to have kids they couldn't afford to raise/educate?

And did these parents educate/guide these kids re: career choices and efficient educational choices?

Why is it taxpayers' fault when idiot parents choose to have idiot kids they can't afford or buy a house they can't afford or not choose to upgrade own skills (during their ample eves/wkends) so their own job isn't automated/outsourced?

Personal freedom is deeply intertwined w/personal responsibility.....commies may want state making these choices and having state pay for all the mistakes....can't have private freedoms and expect society to pay for one's own screw-ups/laziness....ask our EU welfare clowns how that's working out as their 50yo Ponzi scheme unwinds

I'm not sure exactly who you're complaining about here, but I will point out that from the time a child is born until he/she graduates from college is more than 20 years, and a family's finances can change dramatically in that time.

In my own case my parents fortunes went up and down drastically over the decades. Some periods my dad had a secure, high-paying job as a chemical engineer. Other periods my dad had to manage my uncle's lumberyard for peanuts while my uncle recovered from a stroke. That took many years out of his career. But he eventually got back into engineering and his finances got back on track.

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by hsw

Who forced these allegedly responsible parents to have kids they couldn't afford to raise/educate?

And did these parents educate/guide these kids re: career choices and efficient educational choices?

Why is it taxpayers' fault when idiot parents choose to have idiot kids they can't afford or buy a house they can't afford or not choose to upgrade own skills (during their ample eves/wkends) so their own job isn't automated/outsourced?

Personal freedom is deeply intertwined w/personal responsibility.....commies may want state making these choices and having state pay for all the mistakes....can't have private freedoms and expect society to pay for one's own screw-ups/laziness....ask our EU welfare clowns how that's working out as their 50yo Ponzi scheme unwinds

I completely agree. We have some family members who have coached their children to do what they love. Unfortunately, they haven't also taught them about the realities of our new financial norm.

Case in point, one of my nephews is graduating college this year with over $100k in debt. He hasn't focused on internships or networking during undergrad. I've tried to coach him, but he's been turned off by my offers of assistance. He graduated with about a 2.5 and his job prospects look very bleak at this point. His sister has less debt (maybe $30k). She graduated from a UC, but her major was psych and she wants to go into Social Work. Part of her student loan debt is from taking out additional money to travel through Europe after graduation. In addition, she wants to live in the Newport Beach area, but she has no sense of what it really takes financially to live in that area. She's torn about going to grad school or going into the Peace Corps. Yeah, real sense of reality there. All I can say is that this not the way we'll be raising our kids.