Business & Tech

The Way We Work: Graduating Job Hunters Play Waiting Game at Home

In a difficult economy, many graduates return to their childhood homes looking for work.

Part of a series of Labor Day stories on National work trends.

 

Many college graduates are finding themselves in a decidedly retro phenomenon, where economic independence starts from the security of their parents' homes.

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Changing economic dynamics and cultural shifts are among the reasons experts cite for the re-emergence of nuclear, multi-generational family homes not unlike family units of post-WWII America.

More Kids at Home, Less Stigma

A study by the Pew Research Center of U.S. Census data determined that 39 percent of adults (ages 18-34) live with a parent or moved back home at some point during recent years. Among those who have just graduated high school or college (ages 18-24) 53 percent lived at home or moved back temporarily.

Those figures represent the highest percent of Americans living in multi-generational homes since the 1950s, the Pew study said.

In many affluent suburbs, insecurity about economic prospects often predeominate: An extensive survey by the Stony Brook University Center for Survey Research from the fall of 2011 was a snapshot of life in post-recession suburbia: nearly 70 percent of the Long Island households surveyed with family incomes between $35,000-$100,000 annually reported some difficulty in meeting their monthly mortgage or rental payments.

An Associated Press report in April that said opportunities for college graduates vary widely. The report indicated that those with degrees in the arts and humanities may have a long wait ahead of them.

In the Pew study, nearly half of these so-called "boomerang" children report paying rent to their parents and almost 90 percent have helped with household expenses.

The social stigma of living at home may also be disappearing, many experts report. The Pew study said about 75 percent of returning young people reported the living arrangements were either good (24 percent) or about the same as before they left (48 percent).

Many reported having college friends in the same circumstances and, unlike previous generations, the explosion of social media keeps them in touch with college friends who are far away.

Sharply Divided Generations

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"I'm still at home because I enjoy it," said Laura Conte, a 24-year-old public relations specialist. "I do not make enough money to live on my own and save the way that I want to. My monthly bills are fairly low and I think it is more beneficial to save my money at this point."

Even the secure are staying home. For the last year, financial advisor 29, is a practical, accomplished professional who understands the importance of saving for the future. After graduating from college, Trugman, who teaches others how to be responsible with money, first lived at home or with his dad and later shared a place with a brother. Now he has his own apartment. But that is a recent development.

"It's financially challenging to enjoy a certain lifestyle while building a practice, and finding the time to pursue professional designations," he said.

In many ways Trugman is the norm among educated suburbanites who didn't want to leave their home communities and were willing to re-adjust to living with relatives. His approach can be strikingly pragmatic to people who think of their 20s as a time to head out adventurously into the world and start a career.

For Conte, a 1950s-style scenario sounds just fine: "I would like to stay at home until I get married or save enough money to put a down payment on a house," she said. "Whichever happens first."


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