Why are younger people REALLY waiting so long to get married, start families, and enter in to traditional definitions of adulthood? A NY Times article says it has to do with empowerment of women, and their desire to have careers, along with younger people being supported and helped by their parents for longer periods of time. This is highlighted in the article by the recent Obama administration implementation of people up to age 26 being able to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans.
But that’s where the explanation stops, and I don’t know about you, but that’s not nearly enough analysis. The first, BIGGEST, reason for young adults postponing all those things is money and finances, which is a direct result of TWO main things. The first one is the outrageous cost of college that imposes heavy responsibility on so many young people. Instead of saving money for a down payment on a house, or a new car, or for a wedding, or even for their future children to go to college, they are shelling out hundreds and hundreds of dollars a month to pay back student loans.
You might say something along the lines of “Well, they foolishly took out those loans.” And, in theory, you are right. but you’re speaking about 17 and 18 year olds who are fed extreme propaganda, and pushed into 4 (or 5) year college degree programs because “they won’t make ANY money without that.”
Right. So if the degree is needed for a good job, they should be able to pay back those loans, AND save a bit, correct? This is what young people are fed, and groomed to believe and do, since basically the time they have an opportunity to take an advanced course in the 6th grade.
The reality? My mom told me what she made in 1983, when she was 25…and it is within 10% of what I am making at the same age, 26 YEARS LATER! Another person I know defended my low salary with what she made at my age…the same amount, but 15 YEARS AGO! My mom didn’t go to college until after I was born, and her company paid for it (something that will never exist for our generation), and my other friend did not incur anywhere near the expense for college 15 years ago as we do now.
College is more, gas is more, cars are more, rent is more, houses are WAY more, travel is more, food is more, clothing is more, health insurance is OUTRAGEOUSLY more…I could go on and on and on (acutally, about the only thing similar in cost for this young professional group at entry-level salaries are the taxes. Go figure.).
Why aren’t we buying houses, having babies, and becoming adults? Because we CAN”T AFFORD IT. Our parents, and society as a whole, has dumped us into a massive whole of debt, with no real wage increases, and fewer overall jobs and career opportunities. It’s time this society starts to realize what this situation REALLY costs everyone…and it’s not a little amount.
