Comments on: Myths and the Media: A Case Study

By: Lacy Chenault

Lacy Chenault — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 03:23:00 +0000

In America there is so much pressure to leave the home when you’re 18, or else you’re a failure. I know this is not so in other countries. I know a few hard working respectable Cambodian men who still live with their parents (and siblings) I think it’s sad it’s a shameful thing here in America..

By: Demetrea Farris

Demetrea Farris — Sat, 19 May 2012 13:58:00 +0000

You’re right, most parents do like having their adult children around. But, if the adult children had to move back home because they are unemployed and as such have no financial contribution to make to the household, then it could be a potential strain on household resources not only by way of money but also in terms of psychological aspects of there is any sort of tense relationship between the children/parents/step-parents.

By: Demetrea Farris

Demetrea Farris — Sat, 19 May 2012 13:57:00 +0000

You’re absolutely right- I should have made that more clear. My short paragraph did not mention the fact that this is something that is highly ethnic-specific and a very American ideal. Other cultures do value familism and some Asian cultures do expect their adult children to live at home even if they are married. That is another aspect of my research which I erroneously failed to mention. My apologies.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sat, 19 May 2012 06:12:00 +0000

Agreed. I am also from NZ and moved out of home at 17, as did most people I know. My parents actually charged me rent when I came back the first summer, so after that I didn’t bother – it was cheaper to just continue living with my flatmates.

I moved to Germany a few years later, and all my German friends were 26, 27, 28-year-olds either living with their parents or if in a different town because of where their university was located, their parents paid their rent for them. They acted like my parents were child abusers when they heard my stories!

I think part of the reason for the norm of moving out young in NZ is that we only have about seven universities, so anyone who wants to go to uni will most likely have to move away from home to do so. People who don’t go to university seem more likely to marry/have kids young (judging purely anecdotally on the basis of what I saw among my high school classmates), so they move out before the age of 20 too.

By: Hashdja

Hashdja — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:38:00 +0000

I live in New Zealand and from my life experience it is considered normal to move out of your parents home once you’ve finished highschool (16 to 18 years old) and make your own way in the world.

Most people I know would view anyone living at home with their parents at 20 or over as a bit of a “loser”.

By: jeffdowd

jeffdowd — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:31:00 +0000

Thanks for the useful corrective. I will use this in my stats class. But, I must take issue with the notion that the majority currently living with their parents isn’t about the economy. I believe the study is accurate and that young people did say that and probably genuinely believe it as well.

But, I suspect it is not as true as they would like it to be. It is likely that many young people falsely believe that if they wanted to they could “make it on their own” but to save some money they are choosing to stay at home. Americans like to believe that everything that happens to them is their choice. They also likely view having to stay at home as a sign of personal failure. I think the study may be measuring these two tendencies rather than any objective economic reality.

By: Tusconian

Tusconian — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:40:00 +0000

Again, absolutely no consideration for the fact that individuals and families are different. In many cultures, parents would be insulted or confused if their unmarried young adult wasn’t living in their home, particularly if they were un- or underemployed. Parents may want their adult children home for other practical reasons. Parents may just actuallt want their kids at home for non-practical reasons. Your comment makes the mistake that usually comes up here: generalizing something that applies to a very broad range of people to your life, or how you assume other people’s lives are. Not every college student moving back home is moving into a house of physically fit, middle class, Anglo-American 50-something parents with no other children or family members in the house who act like the dad in The Graduate. And a family that deviates from that assumption may very well deviate from the assumption that the parents are not getting any benefit.

By: Kelly H

Kelly H — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:41:00 +0000

“the sole benefit of themselves”
Because if parents don’t need a carer, they can’t possibly want their adult kids around. The financial benefits of a larger household with more incomes can’t possibly help the parents too. Admittedly, my step-father is an arse who thinks his financial obligation to the family begins and ends with the mortgage, but most of my mother’s income is room-and-board from my brother and I.

By: Demetrea Farris

Demetrea Farris — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:07:00 +0000

As of 2000, the number of young adults living at home was about 26% so it may well be at about 39% today, 12 years later. As someone who has been studying this phenomenon since 2007, the figure of 85% is just outrageous. What’s really interesting about the Pew report is that my individual research findings (both qualitative and quantitative) do show that the number one reason adult children move back home IS actually because of economics; other non-academic studies have shown this as well, even before our serious economic downturn. College loan debt, high costs of housing, low entries for entry level jobs- these are the main reasons adults move back home. Despite the fact that the Pew’s respondents report that they didn’t move home for economic reasons, as Sociologists we need to make sure to “read between the lines” of what our respondents are telling us, and what the reality is of the situation in which they are living. What we need to focus on (and I do) are the situations not where adult children move back home to care for aging parents, but for the sole benefit of themselves- which is exactly the situation for these boomerangers.

By: JontKopeck

JontKopeck — Wed, 16 May 2012 01:14:00 +0000

Exactly the XKCD I was thinking of, cheers for saving my a Google search. =]

By: Why things that are untrue get repeated | Joshua Curtis Kidd

Why things that are untrue get repeated | Joshua Curtis Kidd — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:24:32 +0000

[…] second article is by Gwen Sharp on Sociological Images and looks at the myth that 85% of recent college grads are moving back in with their parents. In her article, Sharp traces the myth back to its source, in this case CNNMoney, and notes that […]

By: Gina

Gina — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:52:00 +0000

Great example!! On both the topic of media awareness and this kind of Millennial story reporting, I have to suggest Jessica Mae Stover’s work, particularly the amazing Millennial Proposal http://www.amazon.com/A-MILLENNIAL-PROPOSAL-ebook/dp/B007T4PZG4 and everything to do with Artemis Eternal.

By: Ann

Ann — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:42:00 +0000

Who would admit they were doing it for economic reasons? It’s still too many.

By: Yrro Simyarin

Yrro Simyarin — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:18:00 +0000

http://xkcd.com/978/

It’s even more amazing how many things enter into “common knowledge” through this route.

By: Yrro Simyarin

Yrro Simyarin — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:15:00 +0000

It’s not particularly practical in the US, either, but we do it anyway. How many 20-somethings could live on their own if it weren’t for student loans, housing and food subsidies, and credit card debt. We’ve equated adulthood with independence from family ties and new dependence on debt and society at large.