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As a senior, the “G” word scares me and my peers. Graduation means something completely different than it used to 30 years ago. At my age, my parents were already engaged, planning their wedding, had jobs and thinking about starting a family.
Today, the economy is still recovering, and more students are moving back in with mom and dad. Thirty seven percent of people aged 18 to 29 years old are unemployed or out of work. More Americans have lost their job under Barack Obama than any other president in modern history.
With the uncertainty of the GOP presidential candidate, things could get considerably worse if President Obama is elected for four more years. Therefore, it is important
for the boomerang generation to be informed on the political implications of the next presidential and congressional elections.
Thirty years ago, most students had job security after graduating from an accredited university. But today, students from top universities are struggling to find jobs.
Some parents understand the need to save money and welcome their recent college graduates back home with open arms. However, some students are sent off on their own even if they do not have job security yet. Luckily, my parents are willing to let me move back home along with my 24-year-old sister, who has a job but is staying there to save for her first apartment.
Even if students have job security when they graduate, the cost of living — in the northern Virginia area especially — is not feasible with an entry-level salary.
Those wishing to obtain a loan to put a payment down on their first home are also met with roadblocks because of the unstable housing market and loan process, which is put in place to ensure that less foreclosures will occur.
Although your parents will always be there for you, your presence at home is a financial burden that was most likely not budgeted for.
Some parents alleviate part of this burden by charging their sons or daughters rent. I have heard of parents charging up to $800 per month for recent graduates to live at home.
Though that number may seem steep, it is important to understand why your parents are budgeting the way they do.
As a senior, it is important to understand that the transition of moving back home will be rough.
Without job security, most students will go on living their lives as college students, searching for job openings and opportunities full time.
It is important to create a contract with your parents to set some ground rules and establish a fair rent, if necessary. Without this, disputes will be inevitable.
Moving back home should not be looked down upon by employers, peers or parents. It is important to recognize the necessity of financial security, and it shows that our generation is finding ways to save money in the early years of our careers.
A version of this article appeared in the Jan 20 issue of the Collegiate Times.
Leave a comment 15 Comments Write a letter to the editor
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LOL this article is a joke, there has been several months of falling unemployment under Obama (http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2012-01-06/december-unemployment-report/52410436/1)
Our economy is the strongest it has been in years, and look at the data (http://www.career.vt.edu/PostGraduationReport/PostGraduationReportByMCU.asp?College=05&Major=ALL&Cohort=2009-2010&SortBy=) The median engineering graduate income right after graduation is over 58k.
this article is complete crap, there is not empirical evidence. It is just a baseless observation. If you work hard in college and pursue a major/gain skills that the marketplace values you will be rewarded.
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LOL this article is a joke, there has been several months of falling unemployment under Obama (http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2012-01-06/december-unemployment-report/52410436/1)
Our economy is the strongest it has been in years, and look at the data (http://www.career.vt.edu/PostGraduationReport/PostGraduationReportByMCU.asp?College=05&Major=ALL&Cohort=2009-2010&SortBy=) The median engineering graduate income right after graduation is over 58k.
this article is complete crap, there is not empirical evidence. It is just a baseless observation. If you work hard in college and pursue a major/gain skills that the marketplace values you will be rewarded.
Reply to this Top
The Huffington Post and CNN Money also seem to agree that it is a major issue for the Boomerang Generation.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/13/college-graduates-moving-home-debt_n_861849.html
http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/14/pf/boomerang_kids_move_home/index.htm
I guess we all can't be as lucky as Bob and land a lucrative job straight out of college. In fact, about 85% of us will wind up back home according to the CNN article. I put in the hard work and the marketplace has rewarded me with a job offer from a Big 4 Accounting Firm, but I am choosing to move home to save some money, as many are students doing today.
Great article, lay off Bobby.
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LOL this article is a joke, there has been several months of falling unemployment under Obama (http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2012-01-06/december-unemployment-report/52410436/1)
Our economy is the strongest it has been in years, and look at the data (http://www.career.vt.edu/PostGraduationReport/PostGraduationReportByMCU.asp?College=05&Major=ALL&Cohort=2009-2010&SortBy=) The median engineering graduate income right after graduation is over 58k.
this article is complete crap, there is not empirical evidence. It is just a baseless observation. If you work hard in college and pursue a major/gain skills that the marketplace values you will be rewarded.
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Bob, are you kidding? "Several months of falling unemployment under Obama"? Yes, despite his job killing policies, he hasn't been able to keep unemployment quite as high as he drove it a couple of years ago. Yay us!
While engineers might still be getting jobs, I'd imagine that's scant consolation for all the non-engineering majors. One positive data point does not make a trend.
And your last comment? Thank you, Wesley Crusher, for stating the obvious. However, the marketplace has to have the capacity to hire those folks with valuable skills.
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Texas Mike i assume you are a republican so i bet you know a thing or two about supply and demand. You can't expect to graduate a non-top tier college with a liberal arts degree and get a high paying job. Our economy does not need more history or "business administration" degrees.
Also, our economy is recovering, though slowly. However we cannot go back to the policies that created economic conditions for the collapse. Funny how when Bush passed a stimulus or gave millions of dollars to banks via TARP, people acknowledged the need for government to stimulate the economy. When Obama spends money he is a socialist.
This is the 21st century. There is global competition, and a simple college degree is worthless unless you attain skills that the marketplace demands.
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This economy reminds me of the “malaise” days of Jimmy Carter, more food stamps for the millions that have dropped out of the workforce and stopped looking for jobs (the sole reason the unemployment rate seems to be trending down every so slightly). How can someone that was editor of the Harvard Law Review be so ignorant (release your transcripts!), sinking hundreds of million dollars into the black hole of green energy, failing to create one single job, yet rejecting the Keystone pipeline project that would create thousands of good paying jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Hope and Change? LOL
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The Huffington Post and CNN Money also seem to agree that it is a major issue for the Boomerang Generation.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/13/college-graduates-moving-home-debt_n_861849.html
http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/14/pf/boomerang_kids_move_home/index.htm
I guess we all can't be as lucky as Bob and land a lucrative job straight out of college. In fact, about 85% of us will wind up back home according to the CNN article. I put in the hard work and the marketplace has rewarded me with a job offer from a Big 4 Accounting Firm, but I am choosing to move home to save some money, as many are students doing today.
Great article, lay off Bobby.
Reply to this Top
CNN Money also seems to agree that it is a major issue for the Boomerang Generation.http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/14/pf/boomerang_kids_move_home/index.htm
I guess we all can't be as lucky as Bob and land a lucrative job straight out of college. In fact, about 85% of us will wind up back home according to the CNN article. I put in the hard work and the marketplace has rewarded me with a job offer from a Big 4 Accounting Firm, but I am choosing to move home to save some money, as many are students doing today.
Great article, lay off Bobby.
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If you choose to major in a subject with poor job prospects (philosophy for example) you do not deserve any sympathy for not getting a job.
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30 years ago, the unemployment rate was over 10% (http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet). Just graduating from college didn't guarantee any kind of job security. Having a marketable degree, working hard, and being willing to take a job that wasn't your "fantasy job" were what got you a job. It's not very different now than it was then.
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Oh for heaven's sake. This has nothing to do with Obama, democrats or republicans. For years our jobs have been going out of the country because of cheap labor elsewhere. Drive through the northern part of the country and see the empty steel mills, fabric mills, manufacturing plants. When the factory jobs go, so do the management jobs. Our country as a whole has to think differently and become more creative in building a new economy. In the meantime, if you have to take an entry level job for $10 an hour, do it. You will be so surprised as to how much you learn about a business from the ground up. That knowledge is what will make you valuable.
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