Boomerang Generation
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Boomerang Generation describes the current generation of young adults in contemporary western culture, born approximately between 1977 and 1989.[citation needed]
The term 'boomerang' refers to the commonality with which these young adults choose to move back home with their parents after a brief period of living on their own, usually college, or to never move out in the first place. University of Western Ontario professor Roderic Beaujot discusses this phenomenon of delayed home-leaving at length, citing Canadian census statistics showing that in 1981 27.5% of Canadians aged 20-29 lived with their parents; in 2001 the figure had grown to 41%.[1] (However, US census data suggests that the rate at which adult children have been living with parents has been steady since 1981.[2])
The common parental expectation of having an "empty nest" is increasingly giving way to the reality of a "cluttered nest" or "crowded nest". The latter term was popularized by Kathleen Shaputis's 2003 book "The Crowded Nest Syndrome : Surviving the Return of Adult Children", which takes a critical view of the trend.
The 18th through 21st birthdays of this generation coincide with the economic downturn starting with the collapse of the stock market bubble in 2000. This led to rising unemployment until 2004, the same time this generation was entering the workforce after high school or college graduation. Additionally, in the new economy, where globalisation-induced phenomena like outsourcing have eliminated many jobs[3][4][5][6], real wages have fallen over the last twenty years[7][8][9], and a college degree no longer ensures job stability[10][11][12]this is the easiest, if not only, way for these young adults to maintain the middle class lifestyle they anticipated. Moving back home allows them the option of unpaid internships and additional schooling without the burden of fully maintaining their own finances.
This generation differs from previous generations in that many expect to remain at home with their parents for some years, while maintaining their own social and professional lives. With many of their friends also living at home, the stigma of living with parents is reduced; nonetheless, eventually home-leaving remains a priority for most in the Boomerang Generation.
Support for the trend
Supporters have argued that this is a potential benefit to both parents and their children. The basis of this reasoning is that modern parents often seek to expel children from the home at eighteen. Usually, at this point the children rarely return and the relationship is lost. However, with the boomerang generation, many spend their young-adult years cohabiting with parents and, in some cases, establishing healthy adult relationships with them.
In societies where it is common for children to live with their parents into adulthood, such as Asian and Hispanic cultures, it has been observed that the children continue to take care of their parents into old age, rather than abandoning the responsibility to a third party, such as a nursing home. Whether the Boomerang Generation will accept this responsibility in greater numbers than previous generations remains to be seen, as the older Baby Boom generation approaches old age.
Opposition to the trend
Opponents worry about the negative effect this trend has on the financial and social independence of the children.
Young adults that are able to return home after an unsuccessful job hunt often become more passive in their search for employment if they continue to be financially supported by their parents. A lack of motivation can delay the start to a young adult's career and cause him/her to miss months or years of job earnings and experience.
Those who return home from the unrestrictive nature of college dorm life may also have difficulty readjusting to the rules of the parents' house. Gatherings with friends become limited as now the young adult must compete for time in the family's shared living space. Dating is similarly constrained, and can also be impaired by the stigma of the young adult's perceived inability to function independently of his/her parents.
Many parents feel that although expelling their children from the home may result in a strained relationship, such an expulsion effectively forces the young adults to survive on their own, spurring their maturity and encouraging them to begin families of their own.
See also
References
- ^ Delayed Life Transitions: Trends and Implications accessed on June 9 2007
- ^ Families and Living Arrangements, table AD-1 accessed on June 9 2007
- ^ Jobs moving overseas accessed on January 29 2007
- ^ U.S. underestimates jobs lost to outsourcing, labor experts assert from Cornell News accessed on January 29 2007
- ^ Job outsourcing 'serious problem' from the Washington Times accessed on January 29 2007
- ^ Bureau of Labor Statistics grossly underestimates U.S. jobs lost to outsourcing from Cornell News accessed on January 29 2007
- ^ Amid Plenty, the Wage Gap Widens from the Milken Institute accessed on January 29 2007
- ^ When It Comes to Pay, It Helps to Be the One Signing the Checks from the New York Times accessed on January 29 2007
- ^ Is Youth Worse Off Than Two Decades Ago? from the Parliament of Australia accessed on January 29 2007
- ^ Is Job Stability in the US Falling? Reconciling Trends in the Current Population Survey and Panel Study of Income Dynamics from the Social Science Research Network accessed on January 29 2007
- ^ Has job stability declined? Evidence from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from the American Journal of Economics and Sociology accessed on January 29 2007
- ^ College graduates in non-college jobs: Theory and evidence accessed on January 29 2007
External links
- http://www.lifestartsat.com/parenting/boomerang_generation.php
- http://wallstr.blogspot.com/2005/10/boomerang-generation.html
- http://www.crowdednestsyndrome.com/
- http://www.wordspy.com/words/boomeranger.asp
*http://www.ncfliving.org/bk_108_boomerang1.php