patrick.net

Already on my long list of reasons not to have kids.

Buy your kids a van...down by the river.

That explains why Generation whine has a hard on for Older people.
The guy who makes the rules of the house, is always a DICK.

26 years old with a bachelors in Liberal arts, and can't watch "the onion network" because Dad is watching the The McLaughlin Group, then the Rockford files.

I was thinking of buying my kids a boat and slip with hookups. They could live on board and do charters to pay the slip fee, maintenance, hookups, and maybe even some of their college expenses. Then we could still go fishing now and then. What a life that would be for all of us!

Meanwhile, the federal government does everything possible to prop up housing prices above where a free market would clear.

CaptainShuddup says

That explains why Generation whine has a hard on for Older people.

My favorite part is that you hear boomers complaining that kids these days have no ambition.

This is waht family values is supposed to be-family through thick and thin -because life was tough and unpredictable. Then the govt/nanny state stepped in and ruined everything and the republicans try and mandate it by laws.

epitaph says

CaptainShuddup says

That explains why Generation whine has a hard on for Older people.

My favorite part is that you hear boomers complaining that kids these days have no ambition.

Yes, from the generation of pot smokers.

Mick Russom says

Seems that living at home under age 30 is up 45% - 65% depending on how you count it.--

Exactly what are the different ways of counting it?

Nothing new here. Lets see there's high inflation(how much was gas in 1999? 99cents?), wage deflation, record student debt, high unemployment, outsourcing, high house prices. You have to be pretty smart and lucky to be well off in your twenties now a days.

To be honest I hope my Daughters never leave the house.

Dan8267 says

Yes, from the generation of pot smokers.

But at least the generation of pot smokers, knew there would have to be dues paid before we got our shit together. We didn't blame others for our lack of funds and prospects. I was always told by the older folks... "Just be patient, you'll get your shit together eventually. Just don't do anything stupid before you do. "

And that's just it, youngins today, think coming of age, is some automatic milestone for having their shit together. Then to top it off, every damn decision they make is "Something Stupid".

Get a face tattoo (Check)
Post a nude video(girls) on the internet(Check)
Post a video of you breaking a law on the internet(Check)
Get a pit bull when you can't even take care of your self(Check)
Buy a 25 foot python when you have a 3 month old infant in the house(Check)
Buy a car with a payment that is more than your parents mortgage was when they first bought a house.(Check)
Berate your boss on an internet video(Check)

CaptainShuddup says

And that's just it, youngins today, think coming of age, is some automatic milestone for having their shit together.

The Millennials raised by Baby Boomers were told that they were special, could do anything, and given awards for non-accomplishments. The Boomers did this because they all thought that confidence was by far the most important thing a person could have, and if a person had confidence, he or she would succeed regardless of how untalented, incompetent, or lazy that person was. Every Boomer parent of a Millennial drank the confidence is everything kool-aid. That is why the Millennials think they have paid their dues already.

Personally, I think the whole "pay your dues" thing is bullshit though. As if the person or corporation that you are paying dues to is going to have jack-shit loyalty to you anyway if you slave for less wages than you deserve for a few years.

Yes, young professionals have to excel in order to compete in the world. They also have to be fierce negotiators in order to avoid being taken advantage of.

By the way, the Millennials aren't any more lazy than Gen X or the Boomers. I remember thinking throughout elementary and junior high and college, "there is no one in my class that is going to be real competition". And it's true that very few people in most professions are any good at what they do.

Father of two and not a perfect parent, but my kids have mostly gotten the message.. has not been easy for them in comparison to me, but still..

One thing I've managed to pass on is the "life extracts work" lesson.. bottom line there is that life extracts work from us all.. those with great intellectual gifts don't, generally, have to work as hard as the rest of us, but everyone has to work, because, in the end, life just demands it... the smarter ones seem to figure this out early and do the bulk of their life's work up front in the earlier years of life .. others who think they can outsmart life eventually find out just the opposite and do the bulk of their life's work later in life.. both paths work out in the end.. the trick is not to fight the fact that life will extract work from you, so deal with it and manage it such that the work you do either brings you happiness or, absent happiness, some measure of monetary reward to offset the unhappiness that the work is bringing to you..

kmo722 says

the smarter ones seem to...do the bulk of their life's work up front in the earlier years of life .. others who think they can outsmart life eventually find out just the opposite and do the bulk of their life's work later in life.. both paths work out in the end..

...as John Maynard Keynes put it, "In the long run, we're all dead." I wonder though if some of the recent difference results from (a) the elderly getting subsidized by the young and (b) the young seeing that, even with subsidies, most of the elderly seem cursed with what Kurt Vonnegut would have called a life not worth living and an iron will to live. Before the rise of the medical-industrial complex, most people remained mostly alert and functional until the end; this generation has visited too many elderly ancestors rotting alive in nursing homes. How hard would anyone run towards that dubious prize, when the alternative is to enjoy life while they can?

CaptainShuddup says

That explains why Generation whine has a hard on for Older people.
The guy who makes the rules of the house, is always a DICK.

26 years old with a bachelors in Liberal arts, and can't watch "the onion network" because Dad is watching the The McLaughlin Group, then the Rockford files.  

Matlock!

Gen X'er here, could not afford wife & kids, could have tried harder maybe, I've always been employed, always. I'll be lucky if I can swing retirement one day as quick as living expenses are heading up. Owning a house?, not in the city, no way, as I've said before I can rent for about half the cost of just the property taxes. I see people living with the parents all over the place, some wait until the parents kick it, or head to the nursing home and just keep the house, sometimes losing it or letting it get really run down. This may become more the norm, life is pretty expensive, some use the opportunity as a springboard as you can save incredible amounts of money when you've got free rent.

curious2 says

John Maynard Keynes put it, "In the long run, we're all dead."

Like most things Keynes said, this is stupid. OK, we're all dead in the long run. So that means we shouldn't get a degree, fund our IRAs, take care of our health? What a totally stupid statement and false dichotomy.

Dan8267 says

OK, we're all dead in the long run. So that means we shouldn't get a degree, fund our IRAs, take care of our health? What a totally stupid statement and false dichotomy.

I see it more as a friendly reminder of the finiteness of things -- not a blank check for fucking-off. It suggests that one should try to pursue happiness in the meantime, without slavishly adhering to role and schematic and uniform desires/worries. I think more people need to take a moment to reflect on these themes.

According to 2008 Census figures, 20 million people ages 18 to 34 live at home with their parents -- 30 percent of that age group.

30% sounds familiar. In this age group, 30% have no income, 40% get by on minimum wage and only 30 % have a job with the means to buy a house, buy a new car, or any chance of having a middle class marriage and family.

I moved out when I was 17, I know 100s of people in this age group, I can only think of one person that lives with a parent and he might be 35 now

JodyChunder says

I see it more as a friendly reminder of the finiteness of things -- not a blank check for fucking-off.

Yeah, but people always use it as an excuse for ignoring anything long-term, as if the short-term is all that matters.

curious2 says

Before the rise of the medical-industrial complex, most people remained mostly alert and functional until the end; this generation has visited too many elderly ancestors rotting alive in nursing homes

This brings to mind the recent story about the 87 year old lady living in the retirement community, not nursing home, who collapsed in a public area. An employee who was not a nurse called 911 which instructed her to begin CPR until the ambulance arrived. The employee refused, saying it was against the facility's policy. The 911 operator got into high gear asking if someone, anyone could begin CPR and the answer was still no. When the EMT arrived, the lady was dead. This seems cold-blooded at first, but when you think of it, people used to keel over and die and that was the end of it, especially at 87. The entire impulse today is to keep that heart beating, hang the cost. If they'd gotten her to the hospital, she would have gone onto life support for no telling how long and again at what cost and still probably had no decent quality of life in the meantime. When her daughter was finally reached, it turned out the lady had signed a "Do Not Resucitate" documenet and was perfectly satisfied with they way her mother had been treated.

P N Dr Lo R says

This seems cold-blooded at first, but when you think of it, people used to fall down and die and that was the end of it, especially at 87. The entire impulse today is to keep that heart beating, hang the cost... When her daughter was finally reached, it turned out the lady had signed a "Do Not Resucitate" documenet and was perfectly satisfied with they way her mother had been treated.

The Guardian has a good article on this story. I don't think it's cold-blooded at all, and I personally carry an Advance Healthcare Directive saying I don't want their "help", but I seem to be in the minority on this. It's much more lucrative to keep the heart beating as long as possible. The medical-industrial complex has preyed upon people's fear of death the same way churches have always done, and now we are required via Obamacare to pay all we can afford for medical spending, even at the expense of other priorities that make more of a difference (safer cars, checking the house for radon, etc.). If having a healthy adult descendant at home spares the parents the eventual indignity and expense of nursing homes, they'll be glad of it.

errc says

I can only think of one person that lives with a parent and he might be 35 now

Now that your subjective reality has been made known, I'll go back and change the article to read: less than 1 million live with their parents because you know that only less than 1% of your friends live at home.

Mick Russom says

errc says

I can only think of one person that lives with a parent and he might be 35 now

Now that your subjective reality has been made known, I'll go back and change the article to read: less than 1 million live with their parents because you know that only less than 1% of your friends live at home.

You wrote the article?

Mick Russom says

20 million people ages 18 to 34 live at house with their parents

if this is the case then dont expect rents fo go up anytime soon...18-34 are prime candidates as renters.. if your reducing the demand.. there is already too much supply.

I have a job and free housing for these people.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/zRsxBVMwFoU