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A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

boston.com

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Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#51

Post by trjordan »

ars wrote: post #41
trjordan wrote: post #14

$3,000 a year is a weird number. Of course anything helps, but when rent is $1,000, $2,000, or even $3,000 / month, is that really make or break? I wonder if it's paying security deposits or first / last deposits. When I was 23, paying rent seemed doable, but digging up 3 months of rent all at one go was terrifying.

> rent is $1,000, $2,000, or even $3,000 / month That's rent without roommates. I suspect people are sharing the rent with 3 other people, so $3,000 a month is about 1/3 of their rent.

Ahhhh that's probably it. $300 / month is easily half the rent if you have a couple of roommates.

... which is exactly how I did it from 22-24, not sure how I forgot that.

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#52

Post by gnaritas »

blurbleblurble wrote: post #35

This makes me think hard about universal basic income. If average incomes went up, how long would it take for those with monopolies on basic needs to raise the prices? Not long, I'm sure. Unless rentier capitalism is somehow cut out of the picture, if the government provided $10,000/yr, then $10,000/yr could very quickly become the new "poverty". If banks (via landlords' debts) are squeezing people now, whats stoppin…

BI won't increase average income, it'll simply redistribute income from the top down to the bottom so the average will stay the same. BI will reduce income for those at the top as their taxes will go up much more than they'll get back in BI. BI will increase income for those on the margin, not across the board, so the market rates simply can't go up across the board, BI isn't creating new money and thus won't cause general across the board inflation.

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#53

Post by gnaritas »

mindslight wrote: post #46
blurbleblurble wrote: post #35

This makes me think hard about universal basic income. If average incomes went up, how long would it take for those with monopolies on basic needs to raise the prices? Not long, I'm sure. Unless rentier capitalism is somehow cut out of the picture, if the government provided $10,000/yr, then $10,000/yr could very quickly become the new "poverty". If banks (via landlords' debts) are squeezing people now, whats stoppin…

In fact, basic income is actually just a continuation of the same inflationary alchemy that's been eroding the middle class for decades. This is why a seemingly revolutionary idea is getting so much press - because it actually isn't revolutionary at all, but a doubling down on the status quo!

> basic income is actually just a continuation of the same inflationary alchemy

It's no such thing; not remotely. BI isn't new money, it's simply a redistribution of money from those with more to those with less. It won't increase the money supply and thus doesn't cause inflation.

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#54

Post by jlardinois »

grx wrote: post #4
johnchristopher wrote: post #2

Been there. As one of the 20-something whose parents didn't help with the rent. Two consequences: - really tough discussions with some friends and acquaintances once I realised their parents heavily subsidized their way of life while they were putting the social persona of young working adult being independent and nagging me about when I was going to buy my first car or why I was always the one who made it through th…

Why didn't they help?

I'm surprised no one's yet answered the obvious and common "they can't afford to."

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#56

Post by cmdrfred »

grx wrote: post #4
johnchristopher wrote: post #2

Been there. As one of the 20-something whose parents didn't help with the rent. Two consequences: - really tough discussions with some friends and acquaintances once I realised their parents heavily subsidized their way of life while they were putting the social persona of young working adult being independent and nagging me about when I was going to buy my first car or why I was always the one who made it through th…

Why didn't they help?

My dad is a meth addict who lives with his mother and my mother is an alcoholic who works at a grocery store. Not everyone has that opportunity.

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#57

Post by WalterBright »

When I was young (1980s) it was normal for parents to provide the downpayment for the kids' first home.

BTW, cars are an enormous cash sink. I saved a ton by buying beaters and doing most repairs myself. I still drive a beater :-) and fix it myself and it's amazing how little it costs.

I've had my current beater for 25 years now, and it still starts as soon as I turn the key. It's a fairly simple car, and easy to fix.

Being a beater also means I don't carry comprehensive insurance. Adding up those premiums saved over the years would probably buy a purty nice new car.

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#59

Post by joshstrange »

It was my goal before I even finished college to be as independant from my parents as I could be. Most of that came from a need/desire to not give them anything they could hold over me (preemptively). The rest from hating the idea of living subsidised and being dependant and a drain on them. That said I know I am extremely fortunate to be able to lean on them if it came down to that and I hate that many people don't have that safety net there. I understand some may abuse it but I've not been great managing my money in the past and it's caused extreme stress for me but I can't imagine how much worse it would have been if I didn't have my parents to turn to if things got really bad (thankfully they didn't).

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#60

Post by AnimalMuppet »

gnaritas wrote: post #53
mindslight wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In fact, basic income is actually just a continuation of the same inflationary alchemy that's been eroding the middle class for decades. This is why a seemingly revolutionary idea is getting so much press - because it actually isn't revolutionary at all, but a doubling down on the status quo!

> basic income is actually just a continuation of the same inflationary alchemy It's no such thing; not remotely. BI isn't new money, it's simply a redistribution of money from those with more to those with less. It won't increase the money supply and thus doesn't cause inflation.

Yes and no. Say I'm a billionaire (I wish). I've got all this money. It's not going into food and rent. (OK, a tiny amount is going into food, but I can only eat three meals a day. And "rent" is more likely buying multi-million-dollar homes.) My money's in investments, maybe some luxuries.

Now we go to BI. Now millions of what used to be my money are going to low-income people. They're spending it on food and rent. No, it's not new money, but it's new to the rent market in whatever city. Will that tend to drive rents up? I think so, yes.

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