April 17, 2018
Sarah Bubke
With graduation quickly approaching, some students are considering whether or not to live with their parents while they search for a job.
These students are often called slackers, moochers, irresponsible, entitled and spoiled.
But here’s the truth: it’s okay to live with your parents as an adult.
I’m 29 years old, and I live with my parents. Many young adults who are in the same situation might feel uncomfortable admitting that.
According to the United States Census Bureau, a third of young adults aged 18-34 lived with their parents in 2015. But societal norms tell young people that once we are in college, we have to fully, or at least mostly, support ourselves.
However, our current generation faces challenges that define whether or not we are going to be able to sustain ourselves on our own.
It has become common for young adults to live with their parents as they work toward financial independence. Around 40 percent of young adults live at home, according to a 2016 CBS news article.
Living at home is an attractive option because it helps struggling students save money as they work toward being financially independent.
Today, more jobs require some sort of college education while the price of a college education has skyrocketed. According to Student Debt Relief, the average cost of a college education for an in-state student is $9,970, while out-of-state students pay $25,620 per year.
Getting a job to pay off that debt is getting harder too. Around 60 percent of entry level jobs in the U.S. require at least three years of experience, according to Ladders, which puts a disadvantage on students who are trying to make a living with a degree as a qualification.
My siblings also have lived with my parents into their adulthood. I was able to save enough money to pay for my bachelor’s degree because my parents allowed me to live with them.
Living with my parents also allowed me to leave a higher paid job, and spend my time making less money in positions that give me experience in my future career path.
Choosing to avoid as much debt as you can by no means reflects irresponsibility. Preparing myself for my future workforce is not lazy.
The age at which an individual is expected to fully support himself or herself varies from culture to culture around the world. Why does the U.S. have the expectation that we should be fully supporting ourselves once we leave high school?
In Germany, it is unusual for college students to live away from home while they study. In Nigeria, young adults are expected to live with their parents through college until they get a stable job.
It is considered irresponsible to allow young adults to take out massive loans to pay for their education, a common practice in the United States.
If American society would make it more acceptable for young adults to get support from their families, they would have a better chance of creating a strong foundation for their future. A strong and stable young adult workforce would mean a strong, stable economy in the future.
Just because you live with your parents doesn’t mean that you aren’t a responsible adult.
Don’t listen to what society says. Do what’s best for you and your family, despite what others may think.