1y ago

A portrait of America's young adults: More debt burdened and financially dependent on their parents

www.cbsnews.com

Young adults in the U.S. are experiencing a very different trajectory than their parents, with more of them hitting key milestones later in life and also taking on more debt, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.

A majority of young adults say they remain financially dependent on their parents to some extent, such as receiving help paying for everything from rent to their mobile phone bills. Only about 45% of 18- to 34-year-olds described themselves as completely financially independent from their parents, the study found.

Not surprisingly, the younger members of the group, those 18 to 24, are the most likely to rely on their folks for financial support, with more than half relying on their parents to help take care of basic household expenses. But a significant share of 30- to 34-year-olds also need assistance, with almost 1 in 5 saying their parents provide aid for their household bills.

More broadly, the survey offers a portrait of a generation that's struggling with debt in a way that their parents did not, with more of them shouldering student loans and, for those who own a home, larger mortgages than their parents had at their age. But the analysis also showed that young adults expressed optimism about their futures, with 3 in 4 who are currently financially dependent on their parents saying they believe they'll eventually reach independence.

62 comments

- As a guy who almost exclusively "eats" Soylent, I feel targeted lol. I know your post is supposed to be dystopian satire, but... Unironically though, I'm the healthiest I've ever been (375lbs -> 225lbs), and my monthly food expenses are less than a quarter of what it used to be. Been doing this almost 8 years now and while I recognize it's not for everyone, some people could use a little gruel.
  
  The problem is it should be optional. A family of 4, a single parent, or a college grad working 60hrs a week shouldn't only be able to afford gruel.
  
  Very similar. I am on two bottles of Soylent a day to lose weight. It is working but I can't wait until I get to normal weight and not have to drink soy juice anymore.
  There is something so wrong with everything when I am working at my desk, my 12:00 alarms beeps, I spend two minutes drinking my lunch, and now I can just go back to work. Like what the fuck. My ancestors toiled for a 100,000 years for this?
  
  Do you use the powder? How do you typically mix things up?
  
  You honestly piss me off because I have a mystery disease and have not eaten solid food for five months. I live on Ensure and Gatorade. The fact that you can choose to eat want you wanted but don't?
  And sure, I've lost weight too. And I was overweight. I'm now within 10 pounds of my ideal weight according to my BMI. I don't get to go to the Mayo Clinic until the end of March. I will be underweight by then. Possibly significantly- my weight loss amount tends to fluctuate, but it can be over a pound a day sometimes. Hoo-fucking-ray. Oh yeah, also I'm not spending much on food BECAUSE I CAN'T FUCKING EAT IT.
  (Please no medical advice. If I'm going to the Mayo Clinic, you don't have the answer.)
  I'm far from alone even with people who don't have mystery diseases. There are plenty of people on severe dietary restrictions because of their health who would love to do nothing more than eat a large pizza or a burger, something they will never be able do to again for the rest of their lives.
  Go eat some real food. Because you can.
  I haven't been so annoyed in a while.
- Something something bootstraps
I live with my grandparents. My 80 year old grandmother who never had to work offers me daily career advice. They bought many 3 bedroom brick homes in the late 80's for 15k and now rent them out for close to 1k per month. I love them dearly, but they've contributed to holding back an entire generation from homeownership. They got to enjoy life on easy mode and now wonder why I can't get my shit together. They wonder why I'm not buying a 350k house on a $15 an hour income, or getting married and starting a family.
Because you took everything and won't give it up. Because you used all the easy to reach resources. Because you fucked up pensions and healthcare and education and housing and every other facet of society and now don't care that I'm living in the shitstorm you created. Fucking hell.
- Ask them for a house and see what happens.
  
  Someone's getting used bootstraps for Xmas!!!
- Please let me know where I can rent a 3-bedroom brick home for 1k per month and sign me up with your grandma's rental business.
  
  They aren't super nice houses or anything. They're just small brick homes, maybe 1,200 Sq ft. They're what used to be considered starter homes, and now they're probably worth around 140k. The problem is there are no job opportunities in a small rural town other than fast food and grocery stores. No young person can afford to buy these old "starter homes" when they make $12-14 an hour. It would be irresponsible even for a 2 income household to finance something like these houses, and they are the cheapest in town.
  New developments are going up because the older generations sell off their family land for insane prices. The new houses go for 350k. It's killing small towns because the young people leave. I don't know what the answer is, but I daydream about living simply in small villages and truly having a life vs whatever the fuck this is.
Just as designed. This generation is going to be the most educated in history and that's horrifying to those in power, because between that and the free flow of information on the internet (until the tech industry walls it off) means the same line of bullshit they've perpetuated for over a century won't fool this generation.
Good on you all! Keep educating yourselves, asking questions and when they dismiss you be loud until they have to answer.
In 1960, minimum wage in the US was $1.00/hour and the price of the average house was $11,000.00 That was before Nixon decided to drop millions of tons of bombs on Vietnam and pay for it with paper money. Reagan came along and paid for his tax giveaways by printing even more money. In 1960, $1 million was considered a vast fortune that could buy a dozen luxury homes. Now it's what a rich guy pays for a party.
GOP polices destroyed the middle class.
- What you are describing is inflation. It was a thing before Nixon, and will continue to be a thing in the future.
  
  You're funny. Yes, inflation existed before Nixon, and warfare existed before nuclear weapons. Just because something exists, that doesn't mean it can't be made worse.
  
  unless we on mass decide to ditch the confetti money and go to a real money such as gold or silver like we used to
Young people could set up conditions to make a lot more money if they would all vote but the rich have convinced people that tax cuts for the wealthy are more important.
- if they would all vote
  I'm sick of this fucking victim blaming. There's a reason why the DNC doesn't release demographic information for the primary elections. It's because the Boomers are dominating the primaries and enabling the DNC to continue running the same procorporate trash they've always run. If you're going to shame younger people for not voting then in the same sentence you should be calling out Boomers for being selfish pieces of shit and electing the worst possible options and fucking over everybody else.
  
  When the DNC fucked over Bernie I lost all faith.
- Acksually if your parents and friends would stop voting for trump then the world would be a better place
We got handed a shit sandwich.

62 comments