Last Hope in a Weak Economy? Mom and Dad (extended family by necessity)

AP ^ | 03/23/08 | EMILY FREDRIX

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[AD from SpringBay]

Woe unto me if I, at 52, have not enough common sense than to ‘have to’ move back in with my parents because of financial reasons.

[ClearCase_guy]

It appears that some members of the Baby Boom have led irresponsible lives and expect that other people (including, still, Mummy and Daddy) to pick up the pieces for them.

Is this indicative of a weak economy? Or of individuals who have never grasped the importance of personal responsibility?

[proxy_user]

Well, gee, I’m in my fifties, never made a huge salary, and still own a place to live and have enough money that I could survive without a job.

[Dems_R_Losers]

My parents are 87 and 85, and they have more money in the bank than any of their 5 children, and a home that is paid for. I have one sibling living with them already. That’s the difference between growing up in the Depression years and growing up in the 50s and 60s. It’s our own fault for spending it all as we made it, and not saving. A lot of us Baby Boomers are working like hell now to catch up, and that is one reason why consumer spending is down.

[Jeff Chandler]

Well, gee, I’m in my fifties, never made a huge salary, and still own a place to live and have enough money that I could survive without a job.

Well, if you ever need a good meetings coordinator, I know where you can get one cheap.

[nyconse]

I love what that idiot days, “ parents sacrifice their financial freedom for their kids”. That is what being family is all about. I would never turn away family in a bad situation. Life is not about how much you have, but how much you give. I truly feel sorry for those that think otherwise.

[Sterco]

Maybe she could move in a house with about fifteen other people. They could use the bedrooms in shifts. Getting paid under the table at less than minimum wage would help also. Medicine of course would be free courtesy of the local emergency room. Always somebody ready to employ those willing to work for less. Real hard to compete with someone willing to live this way for a job that doesn’t even pay a living wage.

[Dems_R_Losers]

There is no question that a lot of us could have saved more; but a lot of us also had to pay off student loans when we started out, and a lot of us have had much less stable careers than our parents had. I have had 10 jobs in 25 years, with three long stretches of unemployment that ate up my savings and even sent me into debt.

[AD from SpringBay]

I would never turn away family in a bad situation. Life is not about how much you have, but how much you give. I truly feel sorry for those that think otherwise.

I understand that sentiment. But doesn't there come a point when a person actually does more harm than good by continually supporting a child who has made the same mistakes over and over? When mom & dad are gone, who will the woman in the article turn to? And I know each case is going to be different, but based on what we know from the article - is this woman ever going to learn how to save and live within her means if she can always count on someone giving her more money?

[Caipirabob]

I'm not seeing this as much different than the traditional family model for thousands of years...It's only in modern American society where we've experienced the wealth to expand beyond those family ties.

[proxy_user]

Well, I have never seen illiterates who can’t speak English working as a publicist or meeting coordinator. You have to at least present an educated appearance for such jobs, however little you know.

And most of them pay in the $25-50K range.

[television is just wrong]

another reason is we keep subsidizing welfare recipients. Our taxes are way too high. The government makes us pay for the indigent dead wood in our society.

They take money from my childrens mouth to feed less fortunate.

Didn’t know the government was a non profit like the Salvation army or...

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

She figures her parents spend about $1,000 a month on her, including a car payment, car and health insurance, school and other costs. Her father is a retired nuclear physicist and her mother, a guidance counselor, will retire this spring. Now Maggiore is looking for work so she can supplement their income.

Oops.

[ClearCase_guy]

Some folks have it harder than others. One of the things that bothers me is the headline here: "Weak economy". In other words: "Bush's fault".

If someone says "a lot of us could have saved more" then I see evidence that someone is taking a degree of personal responsibility and I can applaud that. But I think the media would prefer to push its usual agenda.

[joeystoy]

"That is what being family is all about. I would never turn away family in a bad situation. Life is not about how much you have, but how much you give. I truly feel sorry for those that think otherwise.

I have close friends who thought as you do. They're now 85 years old with their daughter, son in law and two grandchildren living with them. Not because of a bad economy (they moved in during the boom years) but because their daughter refuses to live a lifestyle any lower than what she had become accustomed to before she was married.

It's been four years now, with no sign that they'll ever decide to be out on their own. They don't love them any less, they just want them out.

The most destructive thing you can do for the people you love is that which they can and should do for themselves.

[Farmer Dean]

The government isn’t a non-profit,they just like to buy votes on our dime.

[Swordfished]

Didn’t know the government was a non profit like the Salvation army or...

What planet have you been on? This kind of thing has been going on since FDR's 1935 Social Security Act.

There's no sense complaining about it, unless you have a realistic strategy to take us back to pre-1930s governance.

[Farmer Dean]

If you allow an adult child to move back in,at least make them pay their own way.For crying out loud-it’s never too late to at least attempt to teach some personal responsibility.