Live data from Hacker News

Percentage of Young Americans Living with Parents Rises to 75-Year High

wsj.com

91–100 of 293 posts

Re: Percentage of Young Americans Living with Parents Rises to 75-Year High

#91

For me, the main reason I don't have a house is because I wouldn't have anyone to share it with; finding a partner outside of college while being employed in a field comprised of 97% men is impossible.

"finding a partner outside of college while being employed in a field comprised of 97% men is impossible."

What? How is that related? I (and most of readers here, I presume) also work in the same field, but I've never dated a girl who I've had any business with or who could write a single line of code. Just go out more often, get some hobbies, travel -- work is not your whole life. Unless you work in China sweatshop 16h/d, 6d/w work-life balance is achievable, it's mostly a mindset.

Re: Percentage of Young Americans Living with Parents Rises to 75-Year High

#92

Cost of tuition continually grows, most graduates are not falling into extremely lucrative salaries and average salaries are not keeping up with inflation. This is far from surprising but is very concerning. Another avenue to pursue this discussion from is the % of income allocated to retirement savings. I have a sneaky suspicious most of my peers are saving less for retirement than the same demographic 10, 20, 30 ye…

The problem already goes beyond millennials. Increasing automation is going to make unskilled labor a huge liability for countries. This is one reason I don't think some of the anti-immigrant position of many Americans (and Europeans) is unwarranted. Every country should want highly skilled labor to help improve their current account, but unskilled labor is huge future liability. There is already a huge surplus of do…

This will become a global problem about as quickly as it becomes a national problem.

Re: Percentage of Young Americans Living with Parents Rises to 75-Year High

#93
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there's literally no work to do, you can meet the material demands of the problem by turning more machines on. (meanwhile lots of the US runs on cheap labor)

There is work to do, though. Doctors, lawyers, engineering, etc. Lots of work for skilled labor. You can't just "turn on more machines" to placate unemployed unskilled labor.

What if the majority of people can't afford doctors or lawyers?

Re: Percentage of Young Americans Living with Parents Rises to 75-Year High

#94

Cost of tuition continually grows, most graduates are not falling into extremely lucrative salaries and average salaries are not keeping up with inflation. This is far from surprising but is very concerning. Another avenue to pursue this discussion from is the % of income allocated to retirement savings. I have a sneaky suspicious most of my peers are saving less for retirement than the same demographic 10, 20, 30 ye…

By the time the young adults of today are too old to work, they will have long since inherited their parent's house. I would bet in 25 years when 10,000 baby boomers are dying every day, housing prices will be in free fall. So many of today's young adults will pay little, if anything, for the house they retire in.

Speaking as a younger person, I have and will have no interest in living in a rural suburb with no jobs. I'll have to sell, and when that time comes it won't be for much. The reverse white flight into cities is going to wreak havoc on this country.

Re: Percentage of Young Americans Living with Parents Rises to 75-Year High

#95
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or is this a signal that the broad and rapid American growth in the middle of the 20th century was anomalous, not a baseline? It might not be a "dearth of resources" but a return to the true long-term norm.

The broad, rapid American growth has a lot to do with the fact that Europe and the Far East was in complete ruins after WWII and the US was in the immediate position to rebuild Europe. Remember, right before the mid century prosperity, we were in a massive depression caused by the "Roaring 20s" which was fueled by another smoldering Europe. The time period before WWI; the late 1800s and early 1900s were pretty bleak.…

The time period from 1890 to 1929 experienced steady growth in the U.S. [1]

The Roaring 20s was not the cause of the Great Depression. The Great Depression was caused by a variety of factors, primarily unsustainable debt issuance and overproduction in the agricultural sector. Other important factors include crushing wartime debts owed by European nations to American creditors (vastly harming exports), a liquidity crunch and massive deflation due to adherence to the gold standard, and uncertainty by Capital resulting in a lack of expansion.[2]

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_the_United...

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_the_Great_Depression

Re: Percentage of Young Americans Living with Parents Rises to 75-Year High

#96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem already goes beyond millennials. Increasing automation is going to make unskilled labor a huge liability for countries. This is one reason I don't think some of the anti-immigrant position of many Americans (and Europeans) is unwarranted. Every country should want highly skilled labor to help improve their current account, but unskilled labor is huge future liability. There is already a huge surplus of do…

If there's literally no work to do, you can meet the material demands of the problem by turning more machines on. (meanwhile lots of the US runs on cheap labor)

The machines have owners. How do you make them give away whatever they produce?

Re: Percentage of Young Americans Living with Parents Rises to 75-Year High

#97

Not sure if Australia's current housing situation is analogous to America's one, but one of the primary motivators on our side of the pond is financial. Rents within 60km/35mi of the main Sydney CBD have crossed well over 50% of the average persons wage, at around $700/week. I currently live 45km from Sydney and pay $800/wk for a detached house primarily because I don't want to live in a 1 bedroom box in the city. Un…

Wow is rental really that bad nowadays? I left OZ around 2001, and at the time lived in the hills district, and vaguely remember paying AU$200+/week for a 2 br townhouse. It was an hour+ drive to the CBD, but thankfully my employer was also in the hills district, so I rarely had to make that drive.

Re: Percentage of Young Americans Living with Parents Rises to 75-Year High

#98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if you artificially lower apartment rent, there would still be a lack of housing in cities. It would actually make the problem worse because more people could afford to live in cities, and less people would want to build new units. Either young people need to be okay not living in cities, or governments need to encourage more housing to be built in cities. But, instead, young people want urban living and municip…

Indeed, and I feel like not living near a city is the only realistic option. My hope is the eventual completion of the western metro line to Windsor might allow my commute to drop below an hour each way. At the moment the M2 motorway costs me about 15 hours of my life every week, which I'd really love to spend sleeping in when I'm exhausted, or writing, or playing with some new code, or really anything that doesn't i…

I remember parking at e.g. Epping and catching the train to town. Is that not an option for you? You'd be able to catch some ZZZs on the train for part of that journey, rather than having to drive all the way.

Re: Percentage of Young Americans Living with Parents Rises to 75-Year High

#99
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there's literally no work to do, you can meet the material demands of the problem by turning more machines on. (meanwhile lots of the US runs on cheap labor)

The machines have owners. How do you make them give away whatever they produce?

through legislation, i.e. the recent push toward universal basic income.

personally i think in today's world in which 0.1% owns pretty much everything or at least controls ownership of everything, it's an unavoidable eventuality, but it's not going to be an easy process of getting there.

Re: Percentage of Young Americans Living with Parents Rises to 75-Year High

#100

Cost of tuition continually grows, most graduates are not falling into extremely lucrative salaries and average salaries are not keeping up with inflation. This is far from surprising but is very concerning. Another avenue to pursue this discussion from is the % of income allocated to retirement savings. I have a sneaky suspicious most of my peers are saving less for retirement than the same demographic 10, 20, 30 ye…

By the time the young adults of today are too old to work, they will have long since inherited their parent's house. I would bet in 25 years when 10,000 baby boomers are dying every day, housing prices will be in free fall. So many of today's young adults will pay little, if anything, for the house they retire in.

Perhaps for a single kid whose parents live in a reasonably sized city. Multiple siblings / rural house / rented city apartment? Not so much.
Post reply on HN