Free Republic

One in five youths in Chinese cities is unemployed, and the situation could worsen before it improves. The programme Money Mind finds out why some young people cannot find jobs, and the unconventional choices some have made.Since the start of the year, vlogger Zhang Jiayi’s typical working day has looked like this: Talking morning walks with her parents, accompanying them to the market for groceries, preparing lunch, then taking a nap before tending to other chores. The 31-year-old is a “full-time daughter”, a concept — and social media hashtag — that has surfaced as China’s youth unemployment in cities hits...

A Reddit user shares that he turned his daughter’s bedroom into a home office after she moved out and decided to live with her boyfriend. However, her boyfriend accepted a job abroad, and she didn’t want to go with him. So, she announced she’ll be moving back in with her parents. The parents were okay with her moving back in. But, the daughter wasn’t happy living in the spare guest bedroom and wanted her original bedroom back. What Makes This Room Special? The original poster (OP) started working for a different company, and they allowed working from home. And, since...

Financial independence, once a hallmark of adulthood, has gone by the wayside as adult children increasingly depend on their parents to help them cover the cost of rent, student loans, health insurance and more. But parents' desire to give their children a financial assist could be misguided -- and even backfire in the long run. Half of American parents are unable to save as much as they'd like to for retirement, and their grown offspring -- whom they still count as dependents -- are to blame, according to a new Bankrate.com study. While they likely mean well, parents who support...

If you’re like most American citizens, you’ve probably already personally confronted the place on the President Donald Trump love-hate spectrum that is opposite of yours. It may involve friends, family, coworkers, and even strangers. The singular characteristic of this dichotomy—though there are many points on the spectrum that are not absolute--is a polarized opinion of our new commander in chief. Possibly the prickliest dynamic will be the interface between conservative parents and progressive-minded young adult children who have been steeped in a milieu of academic and cultural anti-conservatism. Such children—whether in public or private schools—have been propagandized by subtle or...

I can't even bring myself to pretend anymore; progressives are simply wastes of human flesh. They're spoiled rotten scum, and I mean that with all due respect. And by all due respect I mean none, since they are worthy of none. The bed-wetters currently drum-circling and camping in the quad at the University of Missouri should be expelled. The football players who threatened not to play their game this weekend should have their scholarships revoked. The coaches who supported them should be fired. The faculty who aided these mutants should be unemployable for the rest of their lives. This childish...

David Ruenzel knew, better than most, about the white privilege that killed him. As a writer for the Southern Poverty Law Center, one of this favorite topics was rooting out racism. And how white racism is permanent. White racism is everywhere. And white racism explains everything. This mantra of the Critical Race Theory and the Southern Poverty Law Center applied to all white people because, even if they were not personally cracking the whips, or breaking the skulls, white people benefitted from a racist system that did all that — and a lot more. Ruenzel was writing about white privilege...

Monica Lewinsky re-entered public life this week. Actually, this is the first time she volunteered to enter the spotlight. Her first foray was involuntary and embarrassing. It also was her own fault. Well, hers and President Clinton’s. Lewinsky gave her first public speech on Monday at the Forbes “30 Under 30 Summit” celebrating young achievers. She spoke for 25 awkward minutes, but she could’ve delivered her message in half that time if she were speaking comfortably. But as stilted as the delivery was, the content was worse. Poor, sweet, innocent Monica was exploited, abused and bullied back in 1998 when...

The Social Security Administration announced Monday it is suspending a controversial program that goes after adult children of deceased taxpayers who the government claims were recipients of overpayments more than a decade ago. Acting Social Security Commissioner Carolyn W. Colvin said she has directed an immediate halt to the three-year-old program while the agency does a review. The controversial program seized tax refunds in an effort to recoup the funds. The move to stop the program came after many of the recipients and members of Congress complained to the federal agency.

The Washington Post reports that hundreds of thousands of taxpayers who are expecting refunds this month are instead getting letters informing them that because of a debt they never knew about — often a debt incurred by their parents — the government has confiscated their check. http://m.washingtonpost.com/politics/social-security-treasury-target-hundreds-of-thousands-of-taxpayers-for-parents-old-debts/2014/04/10/74ac8eae-bf4d-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_story.html?tid=HP_more

When I say “debts,” I don’t mean loans that the parents willingly sought from SSA. It would be bad enough to hold a kid responsible for that (since when are children responsible for their parents’ obligations?), but at least it would have been voluntarily incurred by mom/dad. The “debts” here are overpayments of Social Security benefits, the product of SSA’s own errors. The parents who received them might not have even realized they were getting money they weren’t supposed to have. And now, somehow, it’s junior’s problem.But wait. It gets worse. When [Mary] Grice was 4, back in 1960, her...

I saw one at the airport on Monday and then another in the elevator on Wednesday. I see them on the street, at coffee shops around town, often at the grocery. Now Obamacare supporters have adopted one as the face of their new public relations campaign. I'm speaking of adults of both sexes and all ages -- though the style seems to be most popular among those under 30 -- who can't be bothered to change out of their pajamas when they go out in public. The latest entry into the fashion craze is Pajama Boy, the now infamous, plaid-clad...

While Paul Ryan showed his nerves in Thursday’s debate by drinking “enough water to be a camel,” vice president Joe Biden’s performance was marked by “clown faces, grimaces, and smiles,” debate expert and pollster Matt Towery tells Newsmax. “His facial reactions were like that of a novice debater, who was in his first debate round — perhaps in junior varsity,” observed Towery in an exclusive interview. “I mean continuing to make clown faces, and grimaces and smiles. That’s going to be what people are talking about tomorrow.” [Snip] “No one probably imagined that he would interpret a smile as being...

"For years, Pat Bearce had a message for his daughter Andrea: After her college graduation, she would be on her own financially. It has been three years, and she isn't quite there yet. After studying broadcast journalism at Texas Christian University, Andrea decided to pursue a career as a chef, choosing a pricey culinary school in New York City. The restaurant jobs she landed didn't come with health coverage, so, in addition to guaranteeing her apartment lease in Manhattan, her parents covered her health-care costs for a couple of years. They paid her monthly cellphone bill, too. And she still...

There’s a lot of freedom that comes with being a child. Food, shelter — all the important day-to-day stuff — is handled for you. You are left to do as you please throughout most of the day, and while there are a few things you are forced to do, such as go to school and eat your vegetables, these are inarguably for your betterment. There are few real worries when the necessities of survival are guaranteed by your parents, who allow you to be content and carefree. In a way, that’s true freedom. Read more: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/the-freedom-to-be-an-adult/

A lot of us have what is known as an “adult child.’’ It sounds like an oxymoron, but for those of us with offspring in their late teens and early 20s, the emphasis is more on the “child.’’ During the holidays, when my son (18) and daughter (23) were home, the house was full in most ways but empty in others. Empty tank of gas in the car. Empty roll of toilet paper in the bathroom. Empty pitcher of juice in the fridge. Out of fairness to my daughter, I should note that much of this was her brother’s doing....