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    BobbySeriousHamilton Nolan
    7/30/15 9:33am

    I wouldn’t “blame” millennials, as a lot has changed. When I was a kid, all you ever dreamed about was getting out. But that was because your parents weren’t your friends and you didn’t have a bedroom with a flat screen, computer, cell phone, Netflicks, and so on. So first chance you got, you and a few friends rented some piece of shit place for $200 each a month.

    Now, it just doesn’t seem like the motivation is there. These kids aren’t willing to sacrifice all the luxuries they have at home, especially when parents are no where near as strict not to mention too busy working and trying to make ends meet to pay much attention to what they’re doing. Just a whole different world.

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      alphashadowBobbySerious
      7/30/15 10:08am

      You said you could rent a place for $200/mo when you were a kid and then you turned around and said kids these days are not motivated to do the same, with no shred of acknowledgment that there are no more $200 rents. I won’t presume to know how old you are, but here are the rough values today for $200 from these eras: 1970=$1250 1980=$580 1990=$365 2000=$277.

      All the same incentives are still there to leave, but rents are sky-high and purchasing power is low. Of course these modern luxuries (for people who have them—if your parents are poor, you’re just more poor) make it more palatable but I really have to take issue with the notion that older people seem to have that young people just love kicking it at home with parents as roommates. I don’t know anyone for whom that’s true. No one I know chooses to do it if they have the economic power not to. There’s just nothing to win by spinning your wheels suffering in your 20s without being able to save or make a dent in your student loans. There’s your motivation right there.

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      ottermannalphashadow
      7/30/15 10:30am

      Naw, he said

      So first chance you got, you and a few friends rented some piece of shit place for $200 each a month

      implying the rent was closer to $600 or $800 depending on how many went in on the place. A lot of my friends did this the summer after high school. For a few years, they lived in run down places with room mates so they could afford it. As they got older, they were able to change room mates for girlfriends/wives and buy houses. It’s how it was done back in my day. (I graduated in 1987) Personally, I went military. And that’s why I can no longer live with a room mate.

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    EldritchHamilton Nolan
    7/30/15 9:39am

    I turn 30 tomorrow, solidly in the Millennial age bracket and I feel like I’m sort of trapped at home now. My job is good but it doesn’t pay me enough to move into the city where my office is so I commute an hour. My parents have both fallen sick and I take care of them now. I don’t feel like I can leave them alone now for fear of what may happen. My sister got out and I envy her, though most of her paycheck goes to rent. It’s bleak out there.

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      benjaminalloverEldritch
      7/30/15 9:45am

      Same. I’m finally in a position where I could afford to buy my own house rather than renting, but now my parents are ill and it seems I’m the one who will be here to take care of them.

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      Gawquera de Tokers TownEldritch
      7/30/15 9:48am

      Is there anyone (via social services) who can help your parents? Is it managing meds and insurance or do you have to do a lot of heavy lifting (bodies)?

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    drock905Hamilton Nolan
    7/30/15 9:25am

    What do you expect? Most spent 100k on college and can’t get a job making more the $15,000 a year.

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      mavisknowsshesneardrock905
      7/30/15 9:27am

      Get 2 jobs!

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      Kirk Blackdrock905
      7/30/15 9:30am

      Maybe they should have picked a skilled trade instead of the arts degree.

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    HiMyNameIsJayAgainHamilton Nolan
    7/30/15 9:27am

    Every now and then I think I should have moved back in with my parents after college.

    I could have completely paid off my student loans and had a brand new car.

    Well, except there are no jobs in my hometown.

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      2DollarzHiMyNameIsJayAgain
      7/30/15 9:32am

      And there's the whole living with your parents thing

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      Desi_Relaford2Dollarz
      7/30/15 9:34am

      His mom is hot, though.

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    PopChipsHamilton Nolan
    7/30/15 10:17am

    Why is the notion of single, adult children living at home such a negative? (I can see why a young married or otherwise committed couple would want their privacy.) For many years, family homes were multi-generational. There are benefits to such a living arrangement. And, yes, as with anything, there are drawbacks. But to act as if such an arrangement (provided it’s agreeable to all) is always a bad thing seems very short-sighted.

    When you consider that the average family home size has increased from just under 1,000 sq ft in the 1950s to 2,400 sq ft in 2013, this negative view seems even more silly.

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      NicoPopChips
      7/30/15 11:02am

      It’s not necessarily a negative, but I’d say that would have to depend on why they decide to stay home. If the family is sticking close for practical reasons that’s sensible, but if the kids are sticking around because they lack any independence/responsibility and just want mom and dad to cook and clean for them forever, that’s a negative.

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      PopChipsNico
      7/30/15 11:25am

      Oh my word, I agree. One of my adult kids lives at home. I should say that we are lucky in that we have a very small room with a kitchenette attached to our garage. So, he comes and goes through his own entrance and, of course, does his own cooking. I can not fathom a world in which either my husband or I would cook or clean for our 26-year-old (non-disabled) kid.

      But the arrangement works for us. He pays a reduced rent (allowing him to save money) and in exchange he handles some of the ickier stuff around the house for me. My husband travels and when he’s gone I’m not one for dealing with wildlife. So, my stepson, for instance, handled killing and disposing of a rattlesnake that slithered onto my front steps a few weeks ago. He also does all the exterior maintenance, changing lightbulbs as needed. I mean I can do it but it’s nice having someone else who’ll dig out the ladder and change the bulbs as they burn out. We live in CA so our lawn is pretty much gone thanks to the drought but he handles other bits of yard work for me. So, really, it’s a win-win all the way around.

      Plus, while I found him to be very trying during his teen years, he’s matured into a very pleasant twenty-something adult and I enjoy talking with him about current events, his job as a high school English teacher, and life in general. Adult children are so much more enjoyable than teenagers.

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    IkerCatsillasHamilton Nolan
    7/30/15 9:35am

    I wonder whether this study takes into account the fluidity of millennial housing arrangements, which often includes medium-term stays with family, punctuated by other arrangements. For example, I moved out of my parents’ house immediately after college, but moved back in for five months the next year in between my apartment leases, and then for three months two years later before moving abroad. Many of my friends did the same thing.

    Also, maybe “more millennials living with roommates” is a more accurate reflection of the actual data than “more millennials living at home” — but then that wouldn’t imply that millennials are emotionless pieces of shit without ambition.

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      louisfriendIkerCatsillas
      7/30/15 9:45am

      that’s basically living with your parents. not... a fluid living arrangement.

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      IkerCatsillaslouisfriend
      7/30/15 9:48am

      I would say it depends on the length of the stay? I mean, I definitely considered myself to have moved home for five months. But when it’s something like a month or two, which is more commonly the case in my experience, I’m not sure.... Would you say that you “moved to Florida” if you went on vacation for a month?

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    HypnoCatHamilton Nolan
    7/30/15 9:47am

    When I was 17, all I wanted was to get the hell away from my parents and all their rules. I wanted to be able to drink and smoke in freedom.

    Now all my relatives and friends with teenagers have no rules. They figure if the kids are going to drink and smoke anyway, it’s safer to just let them do it at home and hey, bring all your friends so they can be safe too! So where is the impetus to leave? You get to stay home, drink with all your friends, and someone else is stocking the fridge and doing the laundry.

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      NicoHypnoCat
      7/30/15 10:04am

      WHAT? My mom stopped doing my laundry when I was 8!

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      HypnoCatNico
      7/30/15 10:09am

      And are you now living on your own?

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    OMG!PONIES!Hamilton Nolan
    7/30/15 9:49am

    All of a sudden, those ridiculously large McMansions from the Nineties don’t look so ridiculous. Sure, you didn’t NEED that 1,500 square foot finished basement 20 years ago.

    But now that you have a kid who can’t afford his own apartment, isn’t it good to have that finished basement now.

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      Kim Jong's AngstOMG!PONIES!
      7/30/15 9:56am

      I have the opposite problem. I am in my early 30s and apparently one of those few millennials with a career and a mortgage (according to Hamilton). We just finished the basement in our crazy-old house and now my near retirement mother is eyeing it as her future living space. What I’m saying is never finish your basement.

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      OMG!PONIES!Kim Jong's Angst
      7/30/15 10:43am

      Or finish it and purpose all of the space. I have an alcove for a treadmill and spin bike, and space for studying, and the open area is the home theater.

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    GMOCHamilton Nolan
    7/30/15 10:38am

    I don’t want to take the responsibilty off these fuckin’ kids but maybe their parents lives and planning should be examined as part of the cause. I grew up in an OK neigborhood, 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath type house built in the late 60’s. We never traded up when every other family did even though we could have. Because of that my college was paid for 100%, both my brothers too. Starting adulthood with no debt helps a lot.

    You hear the student loan argument a lot out of these kids. It sounds like their parents were either selfish in not building their college funds buying superficial shit for themselves or they were horrible planners. I also suspect many of these parents have little retirement savings and will be placing even more burden on the millenial crew....

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      linaleeGMOC
      7/30/15 10:44am

      I don’t even think that’s necessarily true. My parents bought a modest home, saved money for me and my sisters, and still I’ve got 20k in student loan debt because college is so vastly more expensive than it was when they went. If my grandfather hadn’t died right before I went to school, I’d have even more debt.

      And it’s not like I went to a fancy school or didn’t get scholarships, either.

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      Earthican CentralGMOC
      7/30/15 10:48am

      That’s pretty much exactly what happened. It’s also because a lot of families were hard hit by the recession, and lost a lot of what savings or retirement they did have. It’s far from the stupid idea of millenials being stupid slackers.

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    opiumsmabytchHamilton Nolan
    7/30/15 9:34am

    as young people at the low end of the potential earning spectrum, they are, broadly speaking, at the mercy of vast economic forces beyond their control

    Will fault their terrible taste in many other things, but this is something I can’t fault them for.

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      AveryLupenopiumsmabytch
      7/30/15 9:45am

      Doesn’t every generation start off at the bottom of the financial food chain?

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      Ken Yadiggit, AdiosAveryLupen
      7/30/15 11:01am

      It’s like...my parents started building a sand castle on the beach and they built it tall and stable and built a little moat and sometimes parts of it fell down but they always had easy access to more sand to fix it.

      I’m building my sand castle but starting in a big, wet hole and every time the tide comes in whatever progress I made is washed away or destroyed. Now I can keep building and eventually my sand castle will be as big as theirs, but it’ll take longer and more work because I started in that goddamn hole.

      So I’m just gonna go live in their sand castle for a bit so I can have better access to more sand so I can have an easier time of building my hole-castle.

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