Why so many grads 'fail to launch'

MSN Money ^ | Monday, April 03, 2006 | MP Dunleavey

[Panzerlied]

Many 20-somethings find themselves moving home to live with Mom and Dad, just like the movie 'Failure to Launch.' Blame it on the inertia -- and some very real challenges.

[M203M4]

Unless you are lucky (connections, etc), one will need to work entry level jobs for maybe 5 years. But there are some routes that can lessen this.

The best thing a young person can do? Get an education that includes several co-op opportunities. Engineering, science, applied math, health sciences, medical, dental, and business programs often offer these. You get hired on a short term basis (4-8 months), at relatively low pay, between terms of classes, get a foothold in the working world of your chosen field, and inject some reality into your degree.

As for the people who are wasting their time on fluffy lightweight majors...bwahahaha, you were most definitely warned.

[Lekker 1]

You beat me to it! I have actually used the Judge Smails quote many times when young people complain to me.

[RayChuang88]

A lot of those trades are getting covered up with illegals, in many parts of the country.

True for a few trades but serious housing construction work requires an apprenticeship program, and that usually cuts out the majority of the illegals right there. When I do my morning walks every day I go by a house that is being completely reconstructed I see a bunch of Mexican-Americans doing the work--all speaking good English and driving recent-production Ford, Chevrolet, GMC and Dodge trucks to the work site. I asked how much they're making and a few told me about US$40 per hour.

[napscoordinator]

If you think it's bad here, I read a statistic the other day that 80% of Italian men between the ages of 18 and 30 live at home with their mothers. Talk about "mama's boy."

Culture is different here. They stay with their parents until they get married and then they move next door or upstairs to another apartment. They really do this as a family tradition. People just don't move out like in America. On the other hand, the unemployment for the youth is in the double didgets, but it is more of a traditional reason. I would think conservatives would be jealous of the family structure. I don't know see how they live as a close knit family is kinda nice. Maybe it is just me. There values are much better then ours as far as not shaking up, premarital sex, etc. They are living our 1950's life...the one that is mentioned here as missed many times on FREEPERS.

[Future Snake Eater]

[Paradox]

I'm surprised more people aren't seriously considering going into the construction trade. Those jobs pay GOOD money--US$40 per hour or more!--and the demand is always there, even in the cyclical housing market cycle.

You ain't kiddin. There is a ton of construction going on in Florida, South Florida in particular. I ride the commuter train each day with guys who barely (or didn't) finished high school, who make more money than I do. Good for them! Good pay for a hard day's work, I admire the guys and I let them know. My best construction friend is this black fellow with something of a dysfunctional family. He is about my age, and he is quite the conservative, socially and economically. He works very hard, and makes good money, and is sick of the whiners and the freeloaders.

[FreedomPoster]

>>all speaking good English

That's not the guys hanging out across the street from Home Depot and hiring out at $10 an hour.

[Philistone]

I graduated from High School in 1978 and I and EVERY SINGLE ONE of my friends moved out of the house that summer. And 80% of us went to college (working our way through in service jobs).

Of course, those were the days when it was "If you want to live under my roof, you follow my rules!" So we all said "OK, we don't want to follow your rules anymore."

[D-Chivas]

a dicey job market

What a load of bravo sierra. This is one of the best job markets ever.

[OldFriend]

The girl in the article could have opened a nail salon where she and her clients could mope about their lives together.

[Namyak]

You're right, it's just that sometimes I get the feeling on this forum that there is no reason for someone to live with their family past the age of 24, whereas I think there are legitimate reasons. In my own experience, it's the same people who push their children out as soon as possible who moan the loudest when 30 years down the road their children aren't around to take care of them in their old age.

[Namyak]

All I'm trying to say is that there are perfectly rational reasons to keep a family together under one roof, and the "move out as soon as you are physically able" mantra doesn't apply in all cases. That being said, no parent should allow a child to get a completely useless degree at some third-rate college and then continue to leech off of them once that child realizes they can't find a job.

[kalee]

ping

[Professional Engineer]

One wonders how true this is of science and engineering majors?

I left home at 18, and didn't look back.

[Lekker 1]

I have a couple of scouts in my troop that just want to be "NBA basketball players". While I hate to dash their hopes and dreams, I feel obligated to stress to them to have a "Plan B".

[KarlInOhio]

There are just two options -- go to law school, or go work at Starbucks.

And of those two I would rather have another million baristas than a million barristers.

[No.6]

I wonder if they're paying royalties to Ashleigh Brilliant for that quote in the "Ineptitude" one?

[Emmet Fitzhume]

James Cameron already did that. In his latest flop, "Aliens of the Deep," he casts a PhD student as one of the main stars.

Her intellectual statements are at the 7th grade level, consisting mostly of "Wow, like that is like, really cool stuff."

If Hollywood is going to cast real PhD students in their films, then I expect these students to contribute dialogue worth listening to.

[Vaduz]

God idea because about the ONLY jobs in America is service related.