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I don't see how it is about anything but money. I (27) don't know anyone who lives with parents without a major financial reason. Occasionally it is the parent

I don't see how it is about anything but money. I (27) don't know anyone who lives with parents without a major financial reason. Occasionally it is the parent who can use help to make rent, but usually it's the child.

tzakrajs 12y ago
Having parents to fallback on is a great ruiner of motivation for some people. The amount of negligent enabling that takes place between some parents and their spawn is staggering. I think the extra assurance that they have the ability to live cheaply with their folks hamstrings childrens desire to establish their own support mechanisms.
- waps 12y ago
  Sadly psychological studies confirm this : there's nothing that motivates people quite like seeing a few others fail, and the consequences of that failure, like homelessness. This motivates a lot better than anything on Maslow's pyramid. But would you really want to live in a world where this is actually implemented ? I wouldn't. Your and my parents thought we wouldn't and didn't create such a world, even though they (or maybe their parents) did grow up in such a world, where failure to earn a living would effectively mean physical misery or even death (good luck trying to survive a winter homeless in Europe anywhere north of Italy). I say thanks for that. I mean I have a big fight with my parents but it's not about this.
- gutnor 12y ago
  The flip side is that when you don't have parents to fall back the risk level of all your actions become higher, and that will limit you in other ways. For example, I emigrated in another country. Knowing that if I failed, I could go back home for a few months was a key factor ( as was the possibility to be there for a few months before, to manage the transition ). Maybe the extra-motivation of having my back against the wall would have pushed me in another successful adventure, but I would not have risked my career the way I did. So well, that's really not black and white. And depends a lot on the type of parent you have.
stbtrax 12y ago
I know several people in the bay area making googlesque salaries that are around 30 living with their parents in order to save up to buy a place
- gatehouse 12y ago
  I also live in a somewhat warped housing market and I've seen the same thing. If someone needs to save intensely (i.e. 1/2 salary) for over a year to pay 10% down on a place they find acceptable, it will probably take them a long time to pay it off as well. It is still a money problem but really more of a mix of housing market + personal preferences.
_delirium 12y ago
I know a few people living with parents to help the parents out in non-financial ways, because the parents' relatively poor health makes it easier for them if someone is around. But that should be a relatively constant factor, so can't really explain a trend.
- hga 12y ago
  It won't be a constant factor due to the first of the Baby Boom hitting the age when many of them get chronically sick (if they're lucky). I thought of mentioning that while an act of god (2011 EF-5 tornado) forced me to live with my father, that he's now 80 and starting to decline a little, and had a medical emergency last year, is one of the reasons I'm staying with him. That the cost sharing we've worked out saves, oh, as much as half on my cost of living is of course another reason, but duty is a lot stronger motivator.

tzakrajs 12y ago

Having parents to fallback on is a great ruiner of motivation for some people. The amount of negligent enabling that takes place between some parents and their spawn is staggering. I think the extra assurance that they have the ability to live cheaply with their folks hamstrings childrens desire to establish their own support mechanisms.

waps 12y ago
Sadly psychological studies confirm this : there's nothing that motivates people quite like seeing a few others fail, and the consequences of that failure, like homelessness. This motivates a lot better than anything on Maslow's pyramid. But would you really want to live in a world where this is actually implemented ? I wouldn't. Your and my parents thought we wouldn't and didn't create such a world, even though they (or maybe their parents) did grow up in such a world, where failure to earn a living would effectively mean physical misery or even death (good luck trying to survive a winter homeless in Europe anywhere north of Italy). I say thanks for that. I mean I have a big fight with my parents but it's not about this.
gutnor 12y ago
The flip side is that when you don't have parents to fall back the risk level of all your actions become higher, and that will limit you in other ways. For example, I emigrated in another country. Knowing that if I failed, I could go back home for a few months was a key factor ( as was the possibility to be there for a few months before, to manage the transition ). Maybe the extra-motivation of having my back against the wall would have pushed me in another successful adventure, but I would not have risked my career the way I did. So well, that's really not black and white. And depends a lot on the type of parent you have.

stbtrax 12y ago

I know several people in the bay area making googlesque salaries that are around 30 living with their parents in order to save up to buy a place

gatehouse 12y ago
I also live in a somewhat warped housing market and I've seen the same thing. If someone needs to save intensely (i.e. 1/2 salary) for over a year to pay 10% down on a place they find acceptable, it will probably take them a long time to pay it off as well. It is still a money problem but really more of a mix of housing market + personal preferences.

_delirium 12y ago

I know a few people living with parents to help the parents out in non-financial ways, because the parents' relatively poor health makes it easier for them if someone is around. But that should be a relatively constant factor, so can't really explain a trend.

hga 12y ago
It won't be a constant factor due to the first of the Baby Boom hitting the age when many of them get chronically sick (if they're lucky). I thought of mentioning that while an act of god (2011 EF-5 tornado) forced me to live with my father, that he's now 80 and starting to decline a little, and had a medical emergency last year, is one of the reasons I'm staying with him. That the cost sharing we've worked out saves, oh, as much as half on my cost of living is of course another reason, but duty is a lot stronger motivator.