I think the biggest obstacle for them was that my wife and I have an upper middle class lifestyle and it was tough for them to leave that luxury and basically live paycheck to paycheck for a few years. We never helped them with the bills either. They are doing much better now but definitely had some lean years after they left.
Yes, the current 20-24 yr old UMP is higher than that in the later 1960s and most of the 1950s. But the current crop of 20-24 year olds sure seem to be relatively better employed than at most recent time periods.
I've said this before and I'll keep saying it. I fail to see why everyone loves to bash Millenials. Sure, they have their fair share of pod-eating Antifa-loving snowflakes who were all-in on Bernie and Hillary.
But the Baby Boomers were pretty stupid in their youth - have we forgotten about the 1960s and then Disco? Every generation is dumped on by the elders, but in general they get more conservative as they age and turn out to be fine, upstanding citizens.
Most of the Millenials I know are either Deplorable or Centrist. Lately, they've become more horrified by their snowflake-bretheren, and are generally responding by doubling down on conservatism. Some 'kids' who may have chafed at Trump in 2016 are now thinking that jumping on the MAGA train isn't such a bad idea.
Given that Trump won by 76k votes, we need all the help we can get. I would encourage all people who reflexively bash Millenials to consider maybe inviting one or two of them that you know out to the range or something to loop them in to Camp Deplorable. If we don't, we run the risk of President Kamala Harris outlawing ammo while some of us middle age people wonder why the young ones didn't respond 'appropriately' to being ridiculed.
Agreed.
It’s not wanting to adjust to a lower lifestyle.
The common reply is that they can’t afford to live on their own, but what goes unsaid is that the reality is that some of them can’t afford to live on their own ALONE.
Roomies are always an option. And I’m sorry, but there is often a world of difference in rate of maturation between someone who lives away from his support system, even if it’s with roomies, and someone who is still at home.
And there’s also a world of difference between someone who gets a little temporary support from his parents to “fill in the gaps” in the case of loss of employment or whatever and someone who is still being babied 24/7.
Growing up is a series of steps. And many people in the younger generations (including many people of my generation, the millennials) are not completing all of them. Doesn’t bode well for the future.
“They are doing much better now but definitely had some lean years after they left. “
As did all of us before them.
Let me testify.
The economic situation faced by young people today - especially marginalized males - is that they have little chance of an “upper middle class” lifestyle. More than when we were younger (though it was just starting out), companies are willing to move jobs overseas once American workers expect “upper middle class” salaries - and if the jobs can’t be moved, those companies have the political pull to import masses of white-collar foreigners to fill those jobs here in the US.
What we’re seeing is the situation that has unfolded in Western Europe for decades; economic instability has led to young people simply avoiding families and the corresponding responsibilities of providing for them. We’re also seeing the same long-term consequence: Mass immigration to counter dwindling populations.