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Fewer young men are in the labor force, more are living at home

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Re: Fewer young men are in the labor force, more are living at home

#231

Post by izend »

whiskyant wrote: post #201
UncleOxidant wrote: post #113

I've got two nephews aged 34 and 32 who still live at home and play video games all the time and rarely leave their rooms. Neither has ever had a job that lasted more than a month or so. Neither ever learned to drive even though they live in a town with little or no public transit. They haven't had any education beyond high school. They seem wholly unprepared to navigate life without their parents. It's a slow motion…

It's the parents fault for coddling them. If they kicked them out at 18, the nephews would definitely need to work and may realize the importance of having a better job/career.

Doesn't always work, video games are probably the cheapest addicting entertainment out there. Doesn't take much income to just survive and play video games all day long.

Re: Fewer young men are in the labor force, more are living at home

#232

Post by spoonjim »

tetranomiga wrote: post #218
bektok2 wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time for some tough love and kick them out. Not doing them any favors enabling their laziness.

He said, in a time of record unemployment and low wages that are impossible to live off of. Almost like there are other factors at play here than just men being lazy. HN loves to forget that not everybody can be a FAANG employee or has the desire to sit in front of a computer writing code their whole lives.

The US is not in record unemployment. Not in either direction.

Re: Fewer young men are in the labor force, more are living at home

#233

Post by lliamander »

CameronNemo wrote: post #146
AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have an idea I've been toying with for a dating tool (I refuse to call it an app) based on the premise that all dating "apps" and "sites" are horrible because their incentives are aligned toward wanting people to actually use them. You pretty much have ad-driven and subscription models and both have perverse incentives. Further, the whole "wink", "like" and "swipe" nonsense increases the "meat market" commoditizati…

I've thought about ways to improve dating networks, and I think the best solution is to throw them out and just get young people to go out in groups and do activities together. Romance would be a secondary output (as would friendships, professional networking, and plain old perspective broadening). Rationale is that a lot of women, and to a lesser degree men, do not feel comfortable going out 1x1 with a stranger (and…

I think this is probably the best solution. But what activities do you recommend? Compared to a couple generations ago it seems like it's harder to find good casual activities that appeal to both sexes as a default meeting ground.

Re: Fewer young men are in the labor force, more are living at home

#234

Post by UncleOxidant »

JPKab wrote: post #191
UncleOxidant wrote: post #113

I've got two nephews aged 34 and 32 who still live at home and play video games all the time and rarely leave their rooms. Neither has ever had a job that lasted more than a month or so. Neither ever learned to drive even though they live in a town with little or no public transit. They haven't had any education beyond high school. They seem wholly unprepared to navigate life without their parents. It's a slow motion…

Do you think that video game addiction contributes to this kind of thing, or is the video game addiction a coping mechanism? I think video game addiction is an incredibly underreported and highly destructive phenomenon. I encounter (and had to fire a few days ago) lots of young men who don't appear to ever sleep, and are highly unproductive, unmotivated, and constantly distracted. The kid I had to fire (I call him ki…

Looks like you're being downvoted for suggesting video game addiction, but I think it's a huge part of it. I refer to it as 'digital drugs'. They're definitely addicted. Even on rare occasions when they show up to family gatherings they've got their face glued to their portable games and rarely speak.

Of course, the parents played a part in enabling this. Their mom (my sis) will often suggest I buy them video games for their birthday/Christmas but I refuse to do that. What they need is a kick in the ass to get them outside.

Re: Fewer young men are in the labor force, more are living at home

#235

Post by intarga »

kypro wrote: post #188
ajkdhcb2 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where is this socialist paradise that you speak of where you can have a home without working? There is nowhere like what you are saying. It is the exact opposite of what you are claiming. Affordability of essentials has become so much worse that many people can't afford to live a decent life with their own home even if they are working the jobs that they can actually acquire. These people aren't privileged because th…

> It is the exact opposite of what you are claiming. Affordability of essentials has become so much worse that many people can't afford to live a decent life with their own home even if they are working the jobs that they can actually acquire. Where do you live? Most people I know are literally given homes to live in by the government. Admittedly I'm a working class guy in the UK and I'm not that familiar with the US…

Something doesn’t add up about that story. I’ve lived in the UK, council housing and unemployment benefits are meagre.

Re: Fewer young men are in the labor force, more are living at home

#236

Post by whiskyant »

izend wrote: post #231
whiskyant wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the parents fault for coddling them. If they kicked them out at 18, the nephews would definitely need to work and may realize the importance of having a better job/career.

Doesn't always work, video games are probably the cheapest addicting entertainment out there. Doesn't take much income to just survive and play video games all day long.

But at least they would be working, probably know how to drive a car, and may consider furthering their education/career when they realize how little they make for their time.

Re: Fewer young men are in the labor force, more are living at home

#237

Post by majormajor »

plif wrote: post #168
grogenaut wrote: post #151

I'm trying to get my son and his girlfriend to live at home for a few years post graduation. He wants to move out into a place in seattle. She's a bit more about saving money. The math is that they'd have all loans paid off and a 200k down payment about 4 years out of college if they live with us, and they'd have loans paid off if in 4 years and Important side note: they're both major home bodies so they wouldn't tak…

Something about the savings math doesn't check out, especially given the NEET aspect. 200k savings in 4 years out of school is a lot.

Sounds like it was only the man who wasn't inclined to work, and that the woman has been changing that tendency, as well as presumably having a decent income of her own that's being considered here. So something north of 50K after tax per year for a two-income couple isn't too ridiculous by any means.

185K delta between the two scenarios feels wrong, though - that's almost 4k a month, an astonishing high rent bill for a couple just out of college. The "find an apartment on their own for 1-2K, maybe even with roommates, but ideally just in a cheaper area" option should be seriously considered compared to living at home. Get a bunch more savings AND some very valuable life experience!

Re: Fewer young men are in the labor force, more are living at home

#238

Post by spoonjim »

dvt wrote: post #224
d_burfoot wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's a slow motion tragedy. From an environmental perspective, this kind of minimalist lifestyle actually seems quite healthy. They don't drive, and I assume they don't fly or buy a lot of stuff, so their carbon and other resource footprint is small. They don't take up much extra space, so they reduce suburban sprawl and land required for housing. They probably won't have kids, which further reduces their environme…

> Maybe we should encourage more people to live this way. Sounds like an episode of Black Mirror. Life is meant to be lived ; the purpose of life is at least eudaimonia, not slowly rotting away in front of a computer.

You can write books, compose music, build software, debate opinions all in front of a computer. It’s not the sitting in front of the computer that’s the problem.

Re: Fewer young men are in the labor force, more are living at home

#240

Post by TheAdamAndChe »

leesec wrote: post #183
shimonabi wrote: post #157

I had a pretty rough time between the years 2004 and 2016. I dropped out of college for a career track I dreamt about since childhood and I didn't know what to do with my life. I had no job experience and the recession hit also. If you live in a small country, where everyone is related on average 2.5 degrees away to a random person, it's pretty hard to get a job if you don't have any family connections. After several…

There are an insane number of job openings right now.

Good jobs with growth potential that don't require a four year degree and actually treat you like a human being?
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