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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

#491

Post by throwaway803453 »

balfirevic wrote: post #378
throwaway803453 wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My 45 year old sister is that way now and to a lesser extent my older brother was too. I lost _decades_ of sleep over their situation. Ultimately I didn't know anything when I left home at 18 and I figured it out. Other people can too. How long does it take to learn how to drive, open a checking account, cook, pay bill, etc. after all ? You can learn these things privately over the Internet so there's no longer a soc…

> How long does it take to learn how to drive You're not wrong generally, but this one costs about $1000 where I live, which is close to average national monthly salary and approximately twice the minimum salary. Not pocket change for someone who has trouble finding work (and many jobs require driver's license).

Just to add to the story. My sister claimed for 10+ years she had the DMV book and just needed to study it before getting her permit. She said this repeatedly to my father and brother and no one questioned her. For 10+ years.

Then a year ago I just called a driving school near my parents house on her behalf. I offered to pay for everything including study time and taxi rides to and from the school. Whatever it took. She said she still needed more time to read the book, but I said the school would help her. So when the time finally came to schedule a pickup time, she texted me and just said that she isn't interested in learning to drive.

So that basically ended our relationship since this lie was too much. Now the only lever I have left is shunning her for her irresponsible life-style choices that put a burden on others. It has had no effect on her but at least I sleep better.

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

#493

Post by RhysU »

claytongulick wrote: post #309
meowkit wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Video game addiction (overuse) is a coping mechanism in the face of increased anxiety in the modern world. I don’t think it directly causes issues as much as it enables or locks in certain behaviorally patterns such as being a NEET or similar. It’s really more of a symptom of a lack of support system in a person’s life, the same way social media overuse or drug abuse comes about. Real addictions have severe physical…

> Video game addiction (overuse) is a coping mechanism in the face of increased anxiety in the modern world. You are stating this in absolute terms, which indicates to me that you have a solid source, or are an expert in the field. If so, can you please detail? From my background working in psychiatry (in-patient) for six years, it is certainly not that clear. > Real addictions have severe physical consequences like…

Genuinely curious: Is video game addiction different in kind to anorexia? My understanding is the latter is often a symptom of wanting control over something. I see getting stuck on video games the same way.

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

#494

Post by paulpauper »

dtwest wrote: post #460
paulpauper wrote: post #438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Millions of jobs were lost due to Covid, many permanently. This was on top of jobs lost in 2008-2010. Each wave permanently removes a bunch of people from the workforce. Pre-2008 it was easier for the unemployed to rebound and find work even without advanced degrees or advanced skills. Not anymore. So there are a lot of people not contributing, either on disability , living with friends or parents, or on some form of…

How is that in validation of MMT? We ran a huge deficit this year supporting the economy during covid. We are also seeing a spike in short term inflation and a weaker dollar. Treasury bond yields remain low but there is increasing speculation that decades of low rates could soon reverse. Also are you attributing all value generated by Bezos's or Musk's companies to only them? What about all of the great people they e…

Even in spite of all this Covid spending, the US dollar is only back to where it was in 2018.

https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/.DXY

Short term inflation is rising, but this has more to due with supply and outputs being constrained due to Covid and inflation rising from an abnormally low base. Many pundits and experts underestimated how quickly things would come back, even with the help of stimulus. I think having rising inflation and a booming economy is preferable to a weak economy and low inflation.

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

#495

Post by ravenstine »

majormajor wrote: post #480
ravenstine wrote: post #478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Often the man claiming that men don’t care about a woman’s education, goes on to say that what matters is that the woman knows, for example, how to cook. That, too, has never made sense to me. I live in a country where for the childless, eating out good healthy food is not appreciably more expensive than cooking at home, and a woman who chooses to take advantage of that and use her valuable time for other pursuits,…

You think a better relationship would be built on a "cook and clean and take care of kids for me" role? I can pay to have that done for me these days!

If that's what someone is looking for in another person, then yes. But the concept of "better" is purely contextual. What seems to be better for marriages, or any team of people, is when the participants bring fulfill different roles that serve the shared mission. Two people doing fundamentally the same thing isn't necessarily helpful, although some people may thrive together that way.

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

#496

Post by gnicholas »

grogenaut wrote: post #456
gnicholas wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah $200k of savings in 4 years is maybe $40k/yr of savings, plus optimistic investment returns for the first 3 years. But GP also mentioned all loans paid off, so that adds another $10-20k/yr, depending on what their loans look like. It's not impossible to save that much money straight out of school, but if you're making that much then you could still save a decent chunk even if you're paying $2k/mo for an apartmen…

Several of my young amazon coworkers had 500-800k at 4 years out of college with the stock going up. One basically retired (he is very frugal and allergic to everything and never goes outside) at 4.5 years. I'm just pointing out the possiblities for them.

That’s great! Sounds like they could probably afford to not live with their parents then.

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

#497

Post by gowld »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #186
UncleOxidant wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, well, maybe. But currently they don't seem to have any motivation which is a prerequisite to improvement. I think their parents should provide that motivation by being a good bit tougher on them. They sometimes try this, but then go soft on them again after not very long.

If I may be so bold, I would encourage you to have a frank discussion around estate planning with their parents to best insulate them from pain in the future. I would recommend the home be put into a trust, a trustee appointed for the trust after parents’ deaths, and enough investments set aside to cover property taxes and maintenance on the property with investment income until death of the children. What happens to…

Alternatively, donate the estate to nonprofits that work to help people get jobs and learn self-care.

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

#498

Post by vsareto »

Idk, playing video games all day without any responsibilities seems like they’ve straight-up won life. Most of us have to work for that privilege or be born with a trust fund in our name. Only losing side to this path is a lack of romance or intimacy.

No one’s likely gonna remember you anyway, for better or worse. Might as well enjoy your time on Earth with some of the most immersive storytelling humanity has invented.

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

#499

Post by api »

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…

This is just the Japanese Hikikomori phenomenon in an American form.

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

#500

Post by chewbaxxa »

onion2k wrote: post #32
speeder wrote: post #23

I lived with my parents on and off until I was 31, that was when I managed to marry and move out hopefully permanently this time. It is Anedacta... but I think I know what is going on. 1. The labor market is a mess, for example today I got another rejection letter from a job I sent my resume, thing is, I am literally perfect for the job, my resume (that I didn't tailor for it) matched perfectly what they asked, even…

I had a whole company to make those with millions of downloads After my first startup failed I was rejected for developer jobs, and a few places said it was because they thought I'd want to quit and start a new company rather than stay there for the long haul. More anecdata obviously, but some employers see someone's previous independence as a forewarning of that person looking for independence again in the near futu…

I got this too. Even with a strong interest in the business area and multiple hours of interviews going well: “You’d be a great fit here”, “You were technically strong”, … , “We don’t think you really want this job”.

I really wanted that job. That’s only the most recent, but I have had an overwhelming number of these experiences. I know my own worth, but to convince someone to actually let you work for them - impossible.

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