A Rising Share of Young Adults Live in Their Parents’ Home

[Antischism]

Why would anybody feel bad about that? You should be proud, that's awesome.

I feel like there's a constant pressure on younger folks to move out and be independent, get some high paying job, and be "successful," whatever that means, at the expense of others. It goes contrary to what I believe, and it just feels wrong. I just get the sense that young people are looked down upon if they're with their parents, like some negative social stigma. But yeah, I know what I'm doing is right for me and especially for my sister. The pressure to be independent is still felt, however. I have to block that out and realize I have a good thing going and I'm making a difference in my little sister's life.

 

[Origanalist]

I feel like there's a constant pressure on younger folks to move out and be independent, get some high paying job, and be "successful," whatever that means, at the expense of others. It goes contrary to what I believe, and it just feels wrong. I just get the sense that young people are looked down upon if they're with their parents, like some negative social stigma. But yeah, I know what I'm doing is right for me and especially for my sister. The pressure to be independent is still felt, however. I have to block that out and realize I have a good thing going and I'm making a difference in my little sister's life.

A functioning family unit is a joy to behold and young people living with their parents should be looked down on only if they aren't contributing and being leeches.

 

[kmalm585]

I am 28 and currently living at my fathers house. I decided to quit my job a little over a year ago to return to school and get a different degree for a completely different career. I think it's justified in my situation to have moved back home and commute to my local University.

 

[69360]

I stayed till 21 or 22 so did my sister. This was 20 years ago when you it was odd to be living with your parents in your 20's no less 30's. I blame the helicopter parents for the lazy entitled generation they bred.

 

[Carlybee]

I couldn't wait to get out..I got my first apartment at 17..but those were different times.

 

[amy31416]

I think it's fine so long as the kids understand that they should be an equal contributor financially and/or through taking care of the house or whatever other work needs to be done.

Don't be jerks.

 

[eduardo89]

I used to share the "you're 18, move out of your parents' house" mentally until a year or so ago. I've lived alone since I was 17 when I finished high school and even before then I was at boarding school since I was 14.

Now, I think it's better to live with your parents. I've always thought the way people here in Mexico live with their parents until they get married was weird, but now that i think about it, it makes so much sense. People here in Mexico get married and are able to buy a house. You work hard and save up until you get married and by that time you're already progressing in your career, have savings and are ready to start a family.

 

[eduardo89]

I think it's fine so long as the kids understand that they should be an equal contributor financially and/or through taking care of the house or whatever other work needs to be done.

Don't be jerks.

My brother is living at my grandma's house right now. They split all the bills. He doesn't do chores, but he pays for one of the maids (a full-time maid is only like $300/month).

If he was living alone, he wouldn't even be able to afford the rent here in Mexico City (nice areas are very expensive) and there's no way he would have the same standard of living he does right now.

Everyone I know here in Mexico does the same. They either live with their parents or grandparents until they get married, so until they're 26-30 for men and 23-28 for women.

 

[invisible]

for some reason, there are no illegal apartments in louisiana.
do you think that is a function of high prices or local laws?

Both. Here's how it works: Let's say that you want to split a single family home into two apartments, or otherwise add an extra dwelling unit to an existing building. The first thing that prevents you from doing this is the zoning ordinance. Many municipalities have zoning requirements that make this virtually impossible. Is the property zoned for multiple unit dwellings? Nope, you'll need to have that designation changed. But does your lot that the building sits on meet the minimum size requirement? Is the entire neighborhood only zoned for single family dwellings? IF you somehow manage to meet the almost impossible lot size and other physical requirements (these are deliberately set so that virtually no existing construction will meet them), then you get to go to the zoning board and ask for a permission slip to add an apartment to your property. Better have plans drawn up by a licensed architect or engineer, and have a good lawyer present, and there is no assurance you will be successful in even obtaining permission, since everything is "at the discretion of the zoning official". Already you're out a ton of money. Many places have updated building and fire protection codes that require hardwired smoke detectors (wired into the building's electrical system) and sprinkler systems. A sprinkler system ain't cheap, my friend. The permit itself will cost you hundreds of dollars. Then you have to have the inspectors intrude on you property and hassle you even more. Going through official channels to add an apartment is economically unfeasible, if you're allowed to do it at all. On the other end, rents and cost of living have increased because our money has lost it's value, so many people are looking for an extra source of income, like making their garage / attic / basement / 2nd floor into an apartment. Obviously, it's only feasible and cost effective to do this on the sly and not split the utilities to the building. Of course, many people have no knowledge of building codes or construction techniques, so usually the result is an apartment where everything in the place is shoddily "rigged", with no regard for proper construction, code requirements, or safety. Some people will do a professional (or nearly so) job of it, there are plenty of nice ones around, and they aren't always cheaper. Some renters don't even realize that their apartment is illegal, and live there for years. Illegal apartments are simply a consequence of the government creating a problem, then attempting to solve it, thereby creating another problem, and the free market adjusts and responds accordingly.

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

WOW! on rent prices!

Min wage is $7.25hr, full time that comes to $1,160 a month, before the gvmt steals a third of it. Even with 2 paychecks, how do ppl survive on that with these prices?

Financial aid used to be more generous, as to covering living expenses. I've literally seen students come out of the financial aid office in tears when they realized that in order to get that much money, they had to be going full time. Sooo....
Mandatory work study (job on campus)
Full time regular job
part time regular job
8-12 hours in class, per week
24-36 hrs a week studying (by rule of thumb).
That leaves you something like negative 4 hours a day for sleep, transportation, cooking/eating and everything else.

You know - if you want to live away from your parents (or have no choice) and go to school.

I used to rent rooms to college students and charged $400, then $450 when utilities went up. Might do that again. Someone inquired recently and I said I'd think about it. Tossed out maybe $500-$550mo and the guy started drooling... I'll have to check current rent prices - apparently that's way low now. A large part of the problem is that the uni built 5 new buildings and created several new departments, so the student population grew. The number of available apartments didn't. The amount of parking space on campus didn't grow much either.

One rule about renting to students: Never rent to a freshman! EAKS! Grad students are a good bet!

Or if you do rent to a freshman, rent to someone that has no life and you wil never see, due to their course load - like a medical student.

-t

 

[invisible]

WOW! on rent prices!

Min wage is $7.25hr, full time that comes to $1,160 a month, before the gvmt steals a third of it. Even with 2 paychecks, how do ppl survive on that with these prices?

Financial aid used to be more generous, as to covering living expenses. I've literally seen students come out of the financial aid office in tears when they realized that in order to get that much money, they had to be going full time. Sooo....
Mandatory work study (job on campus)
Full time regular job
part time regular job
8-12 hours in class, per week
24-36 hrs a week studying (by rule of thumb).
That leaves you something like negative 4 hours a day for sleep, transportation, cooking/eating and everything else.

You know - if you want to live away from your parents (or have no choice) and go to school.

I used to rent rooms to college students and charged $400, then $450 when utilities went up. Might do that again. Someone inquired recently and I said I'd think about it. Tossed out maybe $500-$550mo and the guy started drooling... I'll have to check current rent prices - apparently that's way low now. A large part of the problem is that the uni built 5 new buildings and created several new departments, so the student population grew. The number of available apartments didn't. The amount of parking space on campus didn't grow much either.

One rule about renting to students: Never rent to a freshman! EAKS! Grad students are a good bet!

Or if you do rent to a freshman, rent to someone that has no life and you wil never see, due to their course load - like a medical student.

-t

My friends in the Baltimore area tell me that rents have tripled since I left there 10 years ago. Instead of renting their own apartments, people are now renting houses and splitting them.

 

[amy31416]

My brother is living at my grandma's house right now. They split all the bills. He doesn't do chores, but he pays for one of the maids (a full-time maid is only like $300/month).

If he was living alone, he wouldn't even be able to afford the rent here in Mexico City (nice areas are very expensive) and there's no way he would have the same standard of living he does right now.

Everyone I know here in Mexico does the same. They either live with their parents or grandparents until they get married, so until they're 26-30 for men and 23-28 for women.

My Great Aunt who recently passed away got into a car accident many years ago and broke her hip--she lived in a 4 story Victorian that required a LOT of upkeep, and had no bedrooms on the main floor. I was in college, living in an apartment and I liked the privacy, but it just made no sense for her to hire round-the-clock nurses and housekeepers--so I moved in with her for a year.

Man she was a pain in the ass, but I miss her a lot. Incredibly particular about anything you could possibly imagine, from the brand of coffee filter she'd use, to how her sheets and undergarments were ironed. She was still trying to finish up her book on baseball at age 99...missed 100 years by a few months.

 

[eduardo89]

Man she was a pain in the ass, but I miss her a lot. Incredibly particular about anything you could possibly imagine, from the brand of coffee filter she'd use, to how her sheets and undergarments were ironed. She was still trying to finish up her book on baseball at age 99...missed 100 years by a few months.

Oh my grandma is the same. She gets on my brother's nerves so much with her peculiar demands.

But he doesn't mind living here, he's attended to round the clock (my grandma has 2 live-in maids and one more that comes during the day). He never has to do laundry, clean, cook, go grocery shopping, etc. And he saves the $2500 a month on rent he'd be spending to live alone.

I wish I could have lived at home when I was 19. I was living in London and paying $800 a week in rent split with a friend. The apartment was pretty nice, but rents in London are outrageous. I'd be able to afford a house right now with all the money I've spent in rent since moving out of my parents' place.

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

My friends in the Baltimore area tell me that rents have tripled since I left there 10 years ago. Instead of renting their own apartments, people are now renting houses and splitting them.

I was doing that for years, before I got this place. Tried an apartment once and NEVER AGAIN!

After moving out at 18, I lived in a couple of unusual places. Rented a SMALL basement furnace room from a guy for $50 a month. Later in a tent on top of a mountain. Lived in my car for a couple of weeks too, but after that it was always renting a room in someones house or going in together on renting a house.

-t

 

[amy31416]

Oh my grandma is the same. She gets on my brother's nerves so much with her peculiar demands.

But he doesn't mind living here, he's attended to round the clock (my grandma has 2 live-in maids and one more that comes during the day). He never has to do laundry, clean, cook, go grocery shopping, etc. And he saves the $2500 a month on rent he'd be spending to live alone.

I wish I could have lived at home when I was 19. I was living in London and paying $800 a week in rent split with a friend. The apartment was pretty nice, but rents in London are outrageous. I'd be able to afford a house right now with all the money I've spent in rent since moving out of my parents' place.

Yeahhhhh....we're in a different class.

Her house was a former home for the nuns at the Catholic Church next door, and while it was very large and very nice--ain't no need for 2+ maids--I was the maid and part-time caretaker. And I saved $700/month on rent/utilities.

 

[eduardo89]

Yeahhhhh....we're in a different class.

Her house was a former home for the nuns at the Catholic Church next door, and while it was very large and very nice--ain't no need for 2+ maids--I was the maid and part-time caretaker. And I saved $700/month on rent/utilities.

You can get a live-in maid here in Mexico for under $300 a month. One of the ones who lives with my grandma has been working for her for almost 50 years (since she was 12). She's getting old and has arthritis so my grandma hired another maid to help her out. I honesty have no idea why she hired a third who comes during the day, though. They're all related (2 are sisters, the other is their cousin), so I think it's a maid cartel. Her driver is also one of the maid's husband.

Apartments here in Mexico City are ridiculously expensive if you want to live in a nice area (which you basically have to). A one bed in this neighborhood goes for about $2300 plus utilities and phone/Internet, so it comes out at around $2500. Way too much for someone who is just starting their first job (although my brother does make the national average household income on his own).

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

You can get a live-in maid here in Mexico for under $300 a month. One of the ones who lives with my grandma has been working for her for almost 50 years (since she was 12). She's getting old and has arthritis so my grandma hired another maid to help her out. I honesty have no idea why she hired a third who comes during the day, though. They're all related (2 are sisters, the other is their cousin), so I think it's a maid cartel. Her driver is also one of the maid's husband.

Apartments here in Mexico City are ridiculously expensive if you want to live in a nice area (which you basically have to). A one bed in this neighborhood goes for about $2300 plus utilities and phone/Internet, so it comes out at around $2500. Way too much for someone who is just starting their first job (although my brother does make the national average household income on his own).

Is that in pesos or dollars? If pesos it's only about $195 USD.

-t

 

[2young2vote]

I'm one of those 36%. I'm 22 and live with my mom. Looking for an accounting job, but not too hard (just applied to one today, though). I'm quite happy where I am so I don't really have an incentive to move out. Maybe I will when (if) i get a good paying job. I have enough FRNs saved up to put a down payment on a cheap house right now, but I don't want to invest that kind of money until i get a better job that pays more.

 

[eduardo89]

Is that in pesos or dollars? If pesos it's only about $195 USD.

-t

US dollars.

 

[AuH20]

I guess we could have more seemingly "independent" young adults in their own place saddled with debt. They're probably better off at home.