They're Back and They're Unemployed

• Print this article

The middle and working class thought they could attain good things for their children by working hard to send them to college. What message is being sent to the kids? They are thinking, 'My parents told me I could be whatever I wanted, I could get a good job with a degree.'

— Jennifer Lynn Tanner, visiting assistant research professor at Rutgers University's Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research

Feeling “Stuck”

The unemployment rate remains high across the country, but the effect has been greater among young adults than the general population. Couple that with a fierce competition for the available jobs and young adults in their 20s are increasingly faced with no job, or just part-time work.

Returning home or staying put has become the best option for many young Americans.

"It is frustrating for us and our son,” said Monique Delerme, president of Corporate Design LLC in Connecticut. Her 22-year-old son, Owen, has been looking for work since his return home in December 2010 from serving with the National Guard in Iraq. “It’s difficult not only from a financial standpoint, but on an emotional level as well. My son tells me, 'Whatever job opens up, a 30- or 40-year-old gets ahead of me.' "

The unemployment rate for July 2011, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was 9.1 percent. But as recently as December 2010, the rate for those under 25 was a staggering 15.9 percent, according to the Network on Transitions to Adulthood — a research consortium that examines the changing nature of young adulthood.

Among those 25 to 35 years old, prospects aren't quite as bleak but still higher than the average. The consortium put their rate at 10.4 percent.

And it's not just the job market but also debt. According to a report from the Project on Student Debt, college seniors who graduated in 2009 owed an average of $24,000 in student loan debt, up 6 percent from the year before.

So what is the solution? Move back home.

According to Frank F. Furstenberg, author of "On a New Schedule: Transitions to Adulthood and Family Change," nearly half of all young adults in their late teens and early 20s still live with their parents. By the late 20s, the rate drops below one in seven, and below one in 10 by the early 30s.

“Older workers are hanging onto their jobs longer,” said Barbara E. Ray, who co-authored "Not Quite Adults: Why 20-Somethings Are Choosing a Slower Path to Adulthood, and Why It’s Good for Everyone." “Kids coming out of college don’t have the kind of experience that older workers do. They are the last hired and the first let go.”

Underemployment adds another wrinkle.

A report by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University found that half of all recent college graduates are working in jobs not requiring a bachelor's degree, pushing young adults without a degree out even further. “They are really struggling, Ray said. "The number of kids who have given up is extremely high.”

It is this group that concerns developmental scientist Jennifer Lynn Tanner, a visiting assistant research professor at the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research at Rutgers University and co-editor of "Emerging Adults in America: Coming of Age in the 21st Century."

“What about the kids who didn’t go to college, or who didn’t finish and whose families have much fewer resources?" Tanner asked. "What happens to them?”

Without a job, many young adults feel stuck in their path to adulthood. Employment, according to the Network on Transitions to Adulthood, is one marker toward adulthood. Other markers cited by almost 1,400 adults in a 2002 survey included finishing school, leaving home, becoming financially independent from one's parents, being able to support a family, marrying, and becoming a parent.

“Jobs make everything run smoothly,” said Ray. There is also concern that the current recession will have deep economic reverberations, due to young adults starting at lower wages than usual. “This is different from any recession in the past. It’s driving down wages. We won’t bounce back quickly.”

The Impact on Families

It’s no surprise that parents are feeling the squeeze as they continue to provide emotional and financial support, while grappling with the drop of the market value of their homes and possible delayed retirements due to declining retirement accounts.

The Network on Transitions to Adulthood found that across all income levels, parents were spending about 10 percent of their household income on their young adult children. “Even if the kids are putting some money toward their room and board, if your family is financially stressed, it is still more burdensome," said Ray.

Julie Ortiz of the Bronx, New York, works three days a week as a guest services associate at a cultural institution. She shuttles between living with her mother and her boyfriend in his parent’s home. Her boyfriend was recently laid off from his security guard job and is working on obtaining his certification as an emergency medical technician. They would like to get their own apartment, but simply can’t afford it.

“My mom helps me with my student loans and I feel bad about that because she has bills of her own," said the 26-year-old Ortiz, who also carries student loan debt. "She wants to help me but it puts a burden on her.”

There is not just an economic cost but there is an emotional toll as well. Some experts feel this generation could experience a profound psychological impact

"The middle and working class thought they could attain good things for their children by working hard to send them to college," Tanner said. "What message is being sent to the kids? They are thinking, 'My parents told me I could be whatever I wanted, I could get a good job with a degree.' "

Coping with the New Reality

Parents and their children caught during this transitional phase can feel as though they’re in limbo but there is a potential upside.

An alleviating factor for many families is that the parent-child relationship is closer than that of previous generations, and that can help ease some of the tensions. It could help for families in this situation to see it as a blessing in disguise.

“It's not that they don't want to leave," said Maria Kefalas, an associate professor of sociology at St. Joseph’s University. "This generation really likes their parents, unlike the baby boomers and their parents. Because of technology, they’ve had electronic tethers to their parents, and even at college, they were not really away.“

It is important for parents to understand their children may feel powerless in this situation. Psychotherapist Rebecca Conkling of White Plains, NY, recommends establishing boundaries and expectations without being autocratic to help establish a feeling of inclusion.

For example, the young adults can share in housekeeping duties and meal preparation. If they use the car, they should put gas in it. In addition, issues of having guests of the opposite sex sleep over, or not coming home in the evening need to be discussed.

“The kids should be able to bring up anything they wish but if there is something that cannot be compromised, the parents win by default since they are the ones who pay the bills,” Conkling said.

It can also be helpful for parents to use this time to help their children navigate a financial world they may have little experience with.

“This is not the time for nagging. It’s a time for real adult conversations," Ray said. "You can teach them about budgets, and reading the fine print on credit-card agreements.”

And maybe catch up on those opportunities you thought were lost.

Read Next:

• Print this article