This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
The New Youth Normal - Your Parents' Basement
Recent times have been particularly hard on young adults. As we look around the world at Europe and the Middle-East, it is all too often the youth that are leading the social unrest as they again and again are the hardest hit by the global deleveraging (and admittedly most socially connected). The US is not insulated from this (though perhaps more Xanax-subdued) as youth unemployment is around 20% (with 16-19 year-olds around 25%). As Pew Research Center notes though, that fully 55% of those aged 18-24 (and 4% of 25-34 year olds) say young adults are having the toughest time in today's economy. The day-to-day realities of economic hard times are somewhat shocking for a country supposedly so far up the developed spectrum as roughly a quarter of adults aged 18 to 34 (24%) say that, due to economic conditions, they have moved back in with their parents in recent years after living on their own. In the 25 to 29 age range a shocking 34% have moved back home with mom and pop (hardly likely to help with the huge shadow housing inventory overhang we discussed yesterday) Finding a job, saving for the future, paying for college, and buying a home are seen as dramatically harder for today's young adults compared to their parent's generation while Facebook saves the day as staying in touch with friends/family is the only stand out aspect of life that is 'easier' for today's youth. As these increasingly disenfranchised young adults make some of life's biggest transitions (or not as the case seems to be), we wonder just how long it will be before Al-Jazeera is reporting on the Yankee-Spring and showing video of young hoody-wearing Americans throwing their 'Vans' at 80 inch plasma TVs; or maybe the BLS will decide to redefine basement-dwelling (or rioting) as a full-time job.
24% of 18-34 year-olds have moved back in with their parents. Somewhat notably, doesn't everyone get a job to 'pay the bills'? Also notable is the 22% who have delayed procreation - that's hardly going to help as Boomers 'drop off' leaving lower demographics behind...
BLS-provided (propagandized) Youth Unemployment Rates (Seasonally Adjusted).
Thank goodness we have Facebook or there would be nothing better than our parent's generation
»
- 26314 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
I feel your pain. I'm 24 and living with two Chinaman right outside DC to save money. You should see all the young bucks around here; it's trully insane. Young people from every corner of US are here to suk the .gov teet.
It's quite sad that you have to become a CAPITOL sellout just to live in America now...
That's what happens when the government becomes tyrannical.
Pretend and extend your loyalty to the thugs, then at the opportunity, strike the system at the heart with a poisonous dagger of truth.
OLD PROTIP:there ain't no heart.
Stop trying to strike the system, get what you need and be glad you had the shot.
Damn right, Azeroth. I'm 25, and as long as I can pay rent/bills, keep my girlfriend happy and play some f'ing World of Warcraft for 15 bucks a month, I'm all set. I don't even think about buying a Lexus, my own house, or other shit because it's just not possible without working myself into depression or going into debt. Any measly amount of money I manage to save or get from my baby-boomer, over-consuming parents for holidays or birthdays goes straight into the phyzz.
ZH wow guild: that would be epic.
<<Durden's dysfunctionals>>
LFM: Stackz of phyz req for application; pics or it didn't happen.
WOW = denial of reality
if you want to shoot things up join the military. I hear they are giving out 5 figure bonuses to get ready for Iran war.
with experience, you can join blackwater and make serious money
You should find a really rich lady to marry.
you are not marrying HER. you are marrying HER daddy.
Be ready to kiss HIS ass at all times.
It is like having your boss as your father in law.
Not recommended unless the wealth is in 8 digits AND she is hot.
Nothing like marrying for money and the poor bastard father in law spends it all in medical bills at the end of his life and you and your wife get nothing.
Oh, DUDE! We didn't marry for money, but as a matter of fact her dad was loaded, and he hates me to this day because I never gave him the "royal treatment" he expected. You are right about this - take heed, everyone! Side note: Marry for love, but having a rich wife definitely does not suck...
One time-honored tactic is to "marry up" and let the in-laws help you bootstrap your way up ... Just saying....
If I were a younger dude - I would try to hook up with Demi Moore. I could huff Whip It with her and drink gallons of Red Bull. It worked for Ashton.
ashton had his own money.
plus if you are marrying for money you need to marry much older. Some rich grandma who's going to die in next 10 years. That way you get the money and a new wife.
Running from the World of RealLife into the World of Warcraft ain't the solution you're looking for. Get up and get a job, any job. 8 hours a day you should be job hunting and fielding calls from recruiters. Every day.
And be prepared to accept a job that only pays $40K, depending on your degree/skills. Maybe less.
Get a roommate (or 2 or 3). Share a whole sale club membership. You don't need cable. You don't need a gym membership (jog/run outdoors, do pushups). If you eat out more than once a month at a cost of month than $10 you're doing it wrong.
You do need a suit. You do need a hair cut. You do need a shave. A shoe shine never hurt anyone's chances of landing a job.
My son graduatres in May froma Big 10 University with a degree in Bio-chemistry. 3.9 GPA out of 4. Internships, etc.. Still no job. The BS from Gov't and Industry that we need to graduate more "hard science" students to compete globally is looking more and more like just that to him; BS.
It's been BS for 10 years, but the kids keep lining up to go to college and the parents practically kick their asses to go.
I fight with my wife over that same issue when it comes to the kids. She is adamant that they go to college. Which I am fine with if that is what they want. But I personally think that they would be better served with a skilled trade in this environment.
Same here. Funny thing is I am in Ag. and she keeps resisting letting our oldest learn how to drive the heavy equipment and weld or learn any other skill. Oh well, if he comes back to live with us, at least I can insure he earns his keep.
i grew up in an area with mines....if you can get a trade you can write your own ticket north of 6 figures
Didnt Mike Row from his show Dirty Jobs start some kind of trade school university because he said the US was severely lacking in skilled tradesmen and that we don't produce anything anymore because all of the woodworkers and welders etc died off. Honestly I have felt this way for a loooooong time that all these white collar degree oriented goals of the country were mis guided. I have always felt we needed more plumbers, carpenters, electricians etc. I see the staggering amount of debt my neices and nephews racked up going to school for white collar degrees and I cringe thinking how will they ever pay that shit off. I dont see the degrees are being worth the price. You would have a much more stable and earn a decent living as a tradesmen I feel. But thats just my 2oz worth.
My son loves to work with his hands and figure things out. Personally I think a lot of these parents that push their kids to get a degree,any degree as long as they have one, are living vicariously throught their children and trying to make up for their own perceived shortcomings. I think that they need to figure out life themselves. I'll help them along but it's going to be up to them to figure it out.
Blue collar work is a waste as well because they are constantly competing with illegal aliens because the govt. won't crack down on that racket. There is no silver lining in blue or white collar professions nowadays thanks to our government's policies.
UAW factory job.
Before: $38/hour + benefits + cheap housing + all American workers
Now: $16/hour + illegals speaking Spanish + overpriced housing + no benefits
There is no option anymore...either own a business or be a slave.
If you are doing blue collar, then do it for government or move your family to China.
Owning a business isn't all it's cracked up to be, either... we spent years trying to fight our way through the regulatory structure, and defending ourselves from lawsuits by greenies who tried to stop us from despoiling their beautiful outdoors with "commercial structures". We finally got all the permits, won the lawsuits, paid the fees, etc., etc., several hundred thousand dollars worth of planning and preparatory work, and now are finally just about to begin operations. When we begin operations we will hav created more jobs than Barack Obama, and within 5 years may even employ 1,000 people, and the whole region will get an economic boost. After all that some leftist green nazi f*ck actually had the nerve to tell me that government doesn't tax business enough, and none of what we did would have been possible without the government, the roads we drive on, the safety and security we enjoy, blah, blah, blah, all provided for us by the government. I just about wrung his scrawny little neck I was so mad. I managed to hold my temper and tell him we did all that *despite* government, not because of it, and the feds and local green groups did everything in their power to stop us. We'll put it all behind us and forget it when we finally get things running, but I can tell you that an ordinary manufacturing and production business simply can't open these days. Perhaps "service" businesses have it a little easier, but d@mmit, I certainly don't blame any business from simply fleeing to China or New Zealand. They really do everything in their power these days to stop commerce from ever getting started.
Yeah it's something like Construction U. I totally pulled that name from my ass but it's something witty like that. I remember checked the website a couple years ago. I recall it more of an apprenticeship program, where on that site you could look up local professionals willing to take on apprentices.
Skilled trade in what? Construction?
Professional degrees are best, but jobs are shit in all areas except parttime at kroger. But kids don't know anything about much and what they NEED verses their training of satisfying their wants, instead.
A degree is still something they can't take away from you. It is up the individual to what they do with it. Maybe obama should threaten to take away your degree if you don't pay your loans. That idea is better suited for a newt or mitt.
Knowledge is something they can't take away from you. Whats the line from Good Will Hunting? "You paid 100,000 dollars for an education you can have had for $1.50 in late charges at the public library."? I think it's a racket and a scam. I was self taught in IT and so were most of my peers. I think the facade that you need a degree to be smart and useful to societ is just that, a facade. Its a money making racket.
And skilled trade could be anything, construction, electrician, auto mechanic, diesel engine repair, welders, wood workers, etc.
Degrees are paper fiat... It's like a admission ticket. Everything I apply today none of it was learned in either Bachelors or Masters pgms...
There is a difference between knowledge and a degree. A degree granted by institutions is a credential that gives you a special leg up compared to non-degreed as it is architected by the government. Quality is not guaranteed by the deviation of the quality standard is somewhat normalized.
College kid is not going to be your best employee, but is going to be a good dependable one.
No college could mean star employee or worst employee.
There is a reason why some doesn't have a college degree.....because they are stupid or unambitious or irresponsible or can't follow the rules or have problems.
College kid could be your best employee, too. Cut that crap out.
My son's buudy works at a dealership with 3 certs for mechanic, he gets paid 12 bucks an hour. Welders? who needs welders? Construction building what with 100's of thousand of these guys wandering around looking for work. Electrician? wiring for new construction and is not there?
Diesel engine repair? who the fuck is hiring for this shit? Do you live under a fucking rock?
THOSE WHO ARE STILL WORKING AND MAKING MONEY HAVE COLLEGE DEGREES AND WILL ONLY HIRE COLLEGE EDUCATED PEEPS. Period, end of story. WHen in rome do as the romans do, until they blow each other up.
My kid turns twenty five this month and finally works in a real engineering gig, that he actually has a degree for. With paid overtime, he may reach 100k. See what knowledge you do exercise to generate that kind of coin. Of course I did not like paying for this overinflated bag of shit, text book scams, professors that suck, and the like. During your early learning years, there is no better place than to be in school. The male brain is underdeveloped til age 25. Unless you want to fight to enhance the banksters by going to war and getting fucked up for the rest of your life, fighting for a farce of freedom, bullshit.
school + college is just a way for society to filter out the really stupid ones so that they don't become responsible for anything that requires thinking and fuck it up for everyone else.
Lately, that filter needed a change because all kinds of stupid kids are passing in.
Just because you imitate the elite won't make you an elite, but at least you have a chance.
So far, all the banksters, billionares, politicians, etc. are sending their kids to the BEST POSSIBLE SCHOOLING no matter the cost. Even children of rich parents who do not have degrees are sent to the BEST POSSIBLE SCHOOLS.
You think just because Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard that he is going to send his kids to a welding school? I bet you he is sending his kids to best private school + Harvard.
School has become a racket. Even to this day I get alumni letters, magazines, and a whole bunch of crap. Really, it is nothing more than an attempt to get a donation out of me. The Catholic high school that I graduated from is been doing the same thing for about 10 years now.
THOSE WHO ARE STILL WORKING AND MAKING MONEY HAVE COLLEGE DEGREES AND WILL ONLY HIRE COLLEGE EDUCATED PEEPS
WRONG. No college degree here, making well into six figures and turning down a job offer a week.
Understand the market, learn skills quickly and ADAPT or die. That's what you need to be able to do.
what's your profession?
When you get out of your moms basement and have to get the toilet or heater fixed, maybe new brakes on the car or get a leak in your roof you will understand why these skills are important.
Very important, as I personally see how busy I am doing this for neighbors. One had a water heater that died. It was winter, so I went over. Thermos okay, same with the elements. Bottom thermo was all the way down, top at about 1/3. Told him I could replace thermos and elements or just set them so they would heat the colder incoming water to a suitable temp for the winter.
I am telling you, people today are dumber than at any time in our history.
Same guy gives Gatorade to his kid, cause "It's got electrolytes."
Beam me up Scotty, there is no more common sense.
pods
So r u sayin part-time at Kroger s good? They ave benefits or something?
The job market for 90k EXPERIENCED data warehousing, analysis, database programming is flourishing ...
walmart managers can earn $150,000
but managing the entire walmart store and hundreds of employees, thousands of inventory, contractos, millions of customers is not easy.
Think of it as a politician in a small town with bunch of idiot voters who get to decide whether you have a job or not. $50k for the job, $100k for the mental suffering.
All jobs working for the NSA, or their subsidiaries - Google and Facebook.
My daughter graduated from college 3 years ago with a degree in communications. It took her about a year to find a job. Now her company is in layoff mode. Luckily she has not been laid off. She does have some student loan debt but not like some of the horror stories I've heard. Several times she has mentioned that while she had fun and is glad she went; she is not real sure it was worth it.
My eldest son is in his first year of grad school (physical therapy). He loves it. He is having to do some student loans as well but thinks it is worth it.
My youngest says screw school, I can make it on my own. He worked a couple of different part time jobs and turned one of them in to a management position in a retail store. He loves it. He is still at home but he's paying off his car and is, otherwise, debt free. I've urged him to learn a trade/skill that is transportable even if he continues with retail. He is beginning to come around to my way of thinking.
That's my 2 cents.
WTF is a communication degree anyway? Is this not part of the problem perhaps? Most of the people in my MBA program were in it because they had some retarded ass degree and wanted to learn something useful. Unfortunately for me, that was a total waste of my time since I'm an OK engineer (had to actually study and work in college, what a concept!) and I'm apparently more valuable solving real problems instead of going to meetings to pontificate out my ass like the rest of the MBA cohort.
Oh well, good thing I didn't pay for it.
communication major = for athletes to meet degree and GPA requirements.
If someone is not in college sports and is actually majoring in it, then that person is not smart enough to be in a college.
unless it is to be used as a MRS degree. but these days men expect women to have practical dgree + pull in a good salary so that they can live in a good neighborhood near city with career mobility.
I read a while back that the mob is doing great in this environment. He might want to look into that trade
You think being in the mob is easy? You need to start by being Joe Pesci's bartender.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8wJt59Q6So
even mobs have to be competitive since there are other players on the turf.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNbLtOsNgWE
One Yakuza documentary followed a mobster who took it for the family and was jailed for years. The first day he got out, he had to pay respects to the mob bosses family ALL DAY. He complained that he couldn't even see his own family after all these years. His dream was to be born rich so he doesn't have to do the mob shit.
Mobs have jerks too:
Mob head: "Such a long time in the prison. thankyou"
New guy: "Prison is all about getting used to it"
How would you like to hear that the first day you got out?
Mobs have acconting too:
mostly to keep track of gifts they received so that when it is their turn, they give the right amount to right people.
It just sucks to be at the bottom of any pyramid.
Sounds like the life of a Democrat Congressman. They have all the pictures and dirt on you - so you vote the way they want you to vote.
Science!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fI8834iCgo
A B.S. is now the equivalent of a high school diploma in the U.S. FYI, if he spoke mandarin he would have a job. Thank you local politician for the current situation. Lots of capital investment still following in numerous foreign countries via extended wars/actions/foreign aid. Just imagine what those funds could do at home.
Well it's the equivalent of a HS Diploma that you have to pay, at minimum, $40K for.
Slavery is worse in this country than it was in 1865. At least back then only black people were enslaved. Now anyone can be a slave, no matter what the color of your skin is!
Yay racial equality! Yay income taxes! Yay student debt! Yay credit card debt! Yay mortgage debt! Yay crooked financial markets! Yay everyone is a slave now!
Wake up, slavery has always been the endgame for the real owners. I understand parents wanting to see their kids find jobs, but first they should recognize the kids need to earn a job (which is different from earning a degree - which my be required first). Simple fact, most kid should not be in college.
The second question is, would all parents be happy with their kids working a Foxconn? Something has got to give, and will. I would argue that economics was working in the U.S. right up until fraud was no longer being prosecuted, regulations were removed from banks, and the currency was taken off the gold standard.
Northern industrialists fomented the War Between the States for a variety of reasons, not the least of which, was that the form of slavery Southerners employed competed with the kind of slavery they employed.
Many black slaves were arguably treated better than many northern factory slaves. Of course you won't find that in a modern history book.
civil war = northern industrialists wanting to steal the cheapest labor from the agricultural south...ex-slaves.
sure slavery sucks but that paid for room and board in the south with good weather.
they now had to go up to cold north and pay for their own room and board while competing with all the other slaves for shit jobs.
The push for everyone to get a college degree was the same deal....northern corporatists wanting to steal blue collar workers from the rust belt so that they can lower wages for white collar work.
Next up...executives....they already source them from around the globe. You can get executive willing to forget his family and kids while working 60hour weeks from China, India, etc for fraction of the cost American execs who wants millions in bonuses.
Didn't the Roth banking klan from Europe also get even richer on Americans killing each other in the Civil War?
got and still getting richer. They are not some history. They are still alive. They still own shit. They still make wine. They still live in Chateaus.
N M Rothschild & Sons Rothschild Bank AG Château Lafite Rothschild<*sky-high rhetoric warning*>
No one is forced to go to school. While the price of education is a discrace it hardly compares to slavery.
when cost of living is so high that to have a decent normal life you HAVE to go to school, then yes it is forced.
when a job that shouldn't require a college degree requires a college degree, then yes you HAVE to go to school.
To teach elementary math, you need a MASTERS degree these days albeit on bullshit.
Need an over supply of graduates so they can suppress wages.
There you go.
especially when they are paying for education themselves.
Whenever you hear executives saying they made the money without government's help, ask them who paid for their worker's college degrees + firsr 21 years of sustaining....
It is the parents, workers, society that created such work-ready employees valued at least $500,000 per employee.
aldous gets a gold star for that post.
The secondary-education industry's priority is maintaining employment for its staff at ever increasing compensation levels. How does that serve the students or the society that they will enter? It doesn't.
Until secondary-education's funding is tied to results, it's "party on Garth".
that's the priority for ALL industries and organizations no matter how useful.
if you are smart and promising, you should get paid to educate yourself....scholarship.
If you are not smart, then society cannot waste educational resources on you ....dabble in the arts on your own dime.
Your 3.9 GPA son should go to grad school. The math is compelling: free tuition, $30K income, and a degree that will get him a job at the end. (BS in biochem ain't enough.) Have him contact me (dbc6@cornell.edu)
"Hard Science" = dig your hands into the dirt and pull up the fucken weeds!
"Weird Science" = dig your hands into Kelly LeBrock's shirt & pull off her bra...
Is there a 401-K plan with that gig?
It is well known that a BS in bio only gets you a menial job at a phama or research company. There is no respect unless you have a phD.
24% said they took an unpaid job. Compete with that, China!
unpaid job? I find that hard to believe when last year I couldn't find a kid to shovel 20' of sidewalk for 50 bucks.
No shit.
have you heard of illegal aliens and home depot?
well in California, illegal aliens get paid $25 /hour CASH to clean Mcmansions. Ask Meg Whitman.
Well is it any wonder with 88 million Americans OUT of the job force, and Pepsico just anounced 8,700 workers are going?
Pepsico let our Allah use their logo for the 2008 Islamic Hope and Change tour. F Pepsico and Buffett's Coca Cola.
I am typing this sitting on the throne.
So staying in touch is easier these days.
someone on the throne don't use internet. internet is for the masses. elites have secretaries to use the internet.
emails from the chairman are drafted and sent by secretaries...chairman just approves them.
http://www.google.ca/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=566&q=throne+toilet&gbv=2&oq=throne+t&aq=0&aqi=g8g-m2&aql=&gs_sm=1&gs_upl=2986l9301l0l12078l8l8l0l0l0l0l287l1503l0.5.3l8l0
NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Basement reno + toilets + shower = Home Depot
Anyone knows if Kim Jong-Un is dead?
Heard some rumors ...
IF this is for real, we'll know when the North Korean leadership wants us to know... that or when millions of North Korean refugees start pouring into China/Russia.
& why wouldn't they just re mingle with their Korean brothers to the south?
Sorry, but the job is only available to native North Koreans.
Really, you could extend the demographic out to even 40 year olds. Internet bubble, housing bubble, debt bubble, ZIRP, etc, etc. A solid 15 years of bend over.
OT: this can't be good but Argintina is a small country!
Population: 41,769,726 (July 2011 est.)country comparison to the world: 32
Argentina limits daily financial transaction per person to 1.000 Pesos (230 dollars)Argentina limited the use of cash in the country’s financial markets as President Cristina Fernandez tightens oversight of currency transactions to help contain capital flight and prepare for what is anticipated a ‘difficult’ year for the Treasury and the Argentine economy.
http://en.mercopress.com/2012/02/09/argentina-limits-daily-financial-transaction-per-person-to-1.000-pesos-230-dollars?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily
The USD is illegal there.
There's been a lot of noise coming out of Argentina over the Falklands / Malvinas recently.
Argentina's Foreign Minister Hector Marcos Timerman is to lodge a protest at the UN on Friday against the UK's "militarisation" of the Falklands. Mr Timerman is expected to hand the complaint to the secretary general and the president of the Security Council. The move was announced by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on Wednesday. Tensions over the islands known in Argentina as the Malvinas have been increasing in recent weeks. Last month, the UK said it was sending a destroyer to the region in March amid growing tension over the islands in a move described as "routine". Prince William, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II and second-in-line to the throne, was also deployed to the islands in his role as a search and rescue helicopter pilot.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16976491
Suggestions being that internal economics > external jingoism are being repeated. /sigh
Argentina is a leftist kleptocracy. Peronism is a gangster socialist/facist elite police state. Argentina was about the 8th wealthiest country during WW2. Peronism has turned the place into a third world hell hole where the elites are in control.
Another shocking statistic; over 10% of parents and their kids are now on anti-depressants. File that one under “Things that make you go holy fucking shit!”.
The blue pill.
Docs in league with Big Pharma. South Park had a funny episode about all the kids with ADD being on Ritalin. Well, I say funny, but it's sad because it's true.
Scarier still, so many are on anti-depressants and pissing it out that drinking water in many cities is starting to show more than trace amounts of the stuff.
Even scarier Alarmist is that glass of water with anti-depressants in it, if you live in any major city, has already passed through about 400 pairs of kidneys. Bottoms up.
I think thats a biproduct of the clown society we live in. At 29 I started eating zoloft out of a pez dispenser just to get through a day at work surrounded by idiots (that run the place).
Anti-depressants are probably unnecessary anyway. Depression is often related to a vitamin D deficiency.
I noticed myself that after I started supplementing (for a different medical reason) my mood swings totally disappeared. I can also tell I took one (2000 IU) this morning.
Many people are deficient in vitamin D in winter (because the sun is too low) and vitamin B12.
A new generation of " Albinos" is soon to follow. Long " Sun Block"!
Better ease up on that sun block or you'll have a new generation of kids with rickets.
“In a world of monotonous horror there could be no salvation in wild dreaming. Horror he had adjusted to. But monotony was the greater obstacle, and he realized it now, understood it at long last. And understanding it seemed to give him a sort of quiet peace, a sense of having spread all the cards on his mental table, examined them, and settled conclusively on the desired hand.”
I moved back with my parents and I'm over 40 with a decent job. I believe real US median incomes peaked a while back and houshold sizes will continue to get larger as housing remains expensive and incomes shrink. This is true particularly in expensive areas. People making $100k+ may continue to rent/buy more space than they really need.
My parents are still alive but they don't have a basement. :(
There's a growth industry, building basements! Think Different!
I think the doomsday industry, has that pretty much covered. I like your thinking though!
So where do you plan to bury them when you take over the house?
Internships are at an all-time high. Most of my friends, 18-34, don't have jobs with adequate health insurance that covers the important things (but you can see a specialist for just $150 dollars!). And the 4% of 24-35 year olds is a complete total BS number. It should be higher. I know in Boston, it is.
Unless you live in the boons, those young professionals in big cities are struggling paycheck-to-paycheck, even the most responsible ones. Rent vacancies are at an all time low (and home ownership amongst young people is at all time lows), which drives up rents.
Add this with cell phone bills (which you need for access to employers), energy (heat+internet), and food.....no wonder discretionary spending is down (yet consumer credit up). Meidan wages are stagnant, even decreasing in some areas. Marriage is at an all time low (so is divorce, meaning people are getting msarter to the fact the hassle, and money, of getting a relationship wrong is finally starting to hit them).
I'm 30, and struggle paying down debt, rent, etc. That's why I laugh at these economists who say, "Things are improving!".
What economy are THOSE assholes living in?
The made up, "Keynesian" one. Where policy always shits flowers and any difficulty you might be facing is YOUR fault. Didn't you hear? Unemployment is down!
By the way: in nothern VA, a tub of folgers, two rolls of aluminum foil, a carton of OJ, and a bag of cornchips set me back $50+. And gold is dropping?
a tub of folgers, two rolls of aluminum foil, a carton of OJ, and a bag of cornchips set me back $50+
Can you itemize that?
I'm in NYC and that price seems way out of whack. I'm assuming a 3lb Folgers (about $17), 2 brand name foils ($5/each), half-gallon OJ ($6), and a big bag of chips ($5).
I've been toying with the idea of relocating to somewhere cheaper, so do like datapoints from shoppers elsewhere in this great nation.
Good points. Its funny how people think 'age groups' are a concrete and cohesive decision making body, or that they will magically change when they move on to the next one. Bollocks!
What economy are THOSE assholes living in?
The ones that sold you debt at 20%.
I just turned 26, I'm a teacher been living on my own the last 2 years. Moved back in with my mom at the beginning of 2010 because I had broken up with the boyfriend I was living with at the time and it took a while to get back on my feet
The teacher salary in my state is pathetic though, I have no debt besides my car payment, I stack, invest, and travel but I live simply (no smartphone, no cable, shop at goodwill etc) I can't imagine supporting a family with it though!
I want to add: I never studied abroad (although I backpacked though southeast asia and traveled independently) I didn't go to a fancy school I went to the cheap public university in my hometown, and I didn't graduate with a worthless degree (chose English education over English) a grant paid for my grad school so that was debt-free and it's SO NICE seeing the same people who rubbed it in my face and even saying the would "kill themselves" if they lived like I did going through school now working shitty jobs (if they're lucky) and living with their parents
ONLINE PETITION TO DUMP SECRETARY OF EDUCATION ARNE DUNCAN
Arne was a City of Chicago bike cop before becoming head of Chicago Public Schools. In his time as head of CPS, he did exactly jack shit to improve public schools in Chicago, some of the worst in the country.
Of course in the new Amerika this makes him incredibly qualified to serve as head of the Obozo's Dept of Education.
politics = royalty points
Arne probably some conduit for funneling in Obamas contributions.
Donor buys a house in Arne's name for Obama, Obama passes laws for donor, Arne gets government position, Arne sells house to Obama once they are out of politics. Obama flips house and cashes in.
Your thinking too small. Think bigger...much bigger...
You're right.
Has Obama ever fired anyone from his administration? Ever? Even when they are egregious fuck ups like Holder, no one ever seems to get the axe.
But thanks for the link, that was fun.
You best be careful, Arne will send the SWAT team..
http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/2011/06/beware-us-education-department-swat-team/40158
No wonder your boyfriend left. No smartphone or cable. You young pups relationships are 75% texting and sexting anyway. walking in the park, talking etc, are just not very hip.
No, but really the young males are trying to deal with no jobs and make poor suitors for a working female. They are forming a different class. They don't give a shit, get stoned and will pimp yo ass til it hurts.
"English education"
"Not worthless"
Ahahahhahahahahhahahahaha.
Enjoys mocking peers for living with their parents.
She herself lives with her parents.
Man, you kids are too much.
Thank you for all you do - public school teachers do a very important job, with little pay and (lately especially) zero gratitude.
Thank you! ^_^ now I gotta get back... lunch duty
Ha, MN Education Association thanks you for drinking their propaganda hook, line and sinker and doling out the big bucks and wayyy generous pensions for underperforming schools, oh yeah, boo-hoo..
SWM, 26, 6ft. 175 lbs. , hates job in financial markets, loves dogs and motorcycles an long walks on the beach.
Facebook me later.
Oops this is the hedge. Thought I was on match.com for a minute.
Speaking of where is their IPO?
What she needs is a 60-something with a fat bank account, a big heart, and a heart condition.
mistress for Dick Cheney?
Hey asshole, if you hate your job, quit and join those Mexicans mowing lawns and laying pavement. Learn a thing or two about productivity.
These banksters have some nerve showing up here. We need some Terminix.
isn;t this a financial website
That's ok, the failure of white women to reproduce is made up for with "illegal" (actually legal, because a law that is not enforced is invalid) immigration from Mexico. And if there's one thing those Mexicans are good for, it's breeding.
Your job is to educate the teeming hordes of Mexican children for a pittance, not reproduce.
Think about THAT for a second. Your innate biological urges are being suppressed for a few grand a month while the service you provide to the elite is to educate the teeming masses of Mexican children born to illegal immigrants.
I'm sure that, as a woman, you will not comprehend the irony there.
Because the Boomers had children late, they were concentrated on purchasing all those gadgets to please themselves and next generation and forgetting reality, they will be relagated to basement apartments, not new generation. Justice has to be applied to them. And it will happen!
Most seniors are getting pounded thanks to Hope & Change. A lot of baby boomers are also getting destroyed. It is not just young people.
I had to go back to the state university for something. I graduated there over 2 decades ago. What shocked me is all the new buildings, construction materials, glass offices, commercial carpeting, corporate furniture. It was like visiting a a Fortune 500 company's office. When I was a student there, it was pretty spartan and shabby.
Universities aree such a racket, It is 4 years of baby sitting kids. Many of them should not even e there. On the plus side - the place had changed so much that I got lost. It used to have maybe 15 buildings and now it has probably 45. I was looking at a big outside - you are here map. Some young kid drove by, stopped and asked if I need help finding the building. It really sucks seeing young people struggling in this nightmare economy,
4 years of beer pong, painting yourself in school colors, & wearing an afro wig...
GO STATE!
(come to think of it ~ sounds kind of like being POTUS)
LOL! Only 2 junks? I guess the Obama govt bots and "workers" in DC who monitor ZH to junk people found some good on line porn. Junk this. Hope and Change. Hope & Change. RINO Bush, who is another elite, was like heaven compared to this shit.
i can unequivocally state 2 things:
1)youre an ass
2)rinse and repeat
Young blacks beat the aging Boomers to death in the streets in cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, Baltimore etc. for fun. There aren't enough young white men around to stand up to them.
Boomers getting what they deserve.
Paraphrasing Henry Ford: "plenty of people who want to work, plenty of people who need money to buy essentials - only thing that's screwing it up is the parasitic bankers in the middle".
Matt Taibbi has been relentless in going after the financial 'services' industry, in RollingStone - I doubt these kids are at a loss to explain why their generation is in a swamp. If I were Blankfein or Dimon, I'd have a quick getaway plan on file.
My parents moved in with me some years ago rather than a retirement home. Mom is late 80's, Dad is early 90's. They are both in pretty good shape, just can't quite take care of everything to live by thierselves, and not ready for a nursing home.
It's looking more and more like my stepdaughter will be needing help, her husband is a moron, she's sick to death of his crap (I think he hits her the bastard) and we've always promised that she would always have a place to go. She has two young sons, 4 and 5.
My brother, 20 years my junior, bought a house in 2005 (he just wouldn't listen to me...), is horribly upside down, and I have advised a strategic default on that deal. He's becoming more receptive to that lately.
It's a big enough house, but if all that happens it will be getting a little crowded around here.
The kick in the balls for me is that I get to pay for everything. But that's ok, I'll afford it to help. I guess.....
AMEN TO THAT!
I took in my 15 year old half brother after his mother lost her job and started boozing. He was failing every class, despondent to life in general. A year and half later he is getting A's and B's and has his confidence back. I'm 28, have a decent job, house, car and wife but I planned for the unexpected events, saved my money and made sure not to be dependent on the Govn't. People can't believe my generousity and selflessness but I don't understand what the fuss is all about. Family is Family and in the end that is all you have. If the situation with my brother was reversed I would hope he would do the same thing for me.
You are what is known as, "the salt of the earth." Some chase self-indulgence at all costs, you understand that your legacy left behind with loved ones is of greater value.
Thanks man, that descibes me perfectly. Family first, you can't take the money with you to the grave but you can leave this world a better place. This whole debt problem is due to people chasing dreams made of paper.
I am always struck when reading books about veterns in the WW2 period, how many of them sent all their "pay" home to their families. How many stated before they were drafted, that they worked before/after school and weekends and all the money went to help support their families.
I know when my parents got married they didn't have 2 pennies to rub together, but my father sent money to his brother every month to help pay for his school.
The accountability to the whole seems to have diminished almost completely over the last 30 years.
I moved back home (from a six-figure big city gig) to Exurb, USA to save my parents from foreclosure and pay my sister's hospital bills. Let the 50-60 something suburban drones in the neighborhood laugh, I know the truth. Cashed out my 401K to do it. 31 years old today. Pay for the fuel oil, the electricity, the food most of the time, and that damned idiot mortgage. (Old man took out a Home Equity Loan for his ultra-risky business, no business, no equity).
You take care of your own, to hell with the scoffers. Some Americans would rather eat shit than stick with their family, that's their problem.
+1000
Boomers have no incentive to take care of their own kids, because other people's kids's social security and medicare payments will take care of them when they get old.
People who are responsible get taxed to death and have to pay even more to help their own parents and kids.
Such is the life amongsts idiot voters.
Basement? I still sleep in my parent's bed
Small world! I still sleep in your parents bed too!
Well by his ID tag, he was DRUNK... What's your excuse?
It's Stacey's mom, she's hot..
junkyardjack doesn't know