The Boomerang Kids
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The Boomerang Kids
Boomerang kids are those young adults still living in their parent’s home well into their late 20’s to early 30’s. This habit did not begin during “the great recession” contrary to what many people believe. Between the intervals of 1980 to 2008 the number of the boomerang kids increased exponentially. This period occurred before the “great recession” thereby invalidating the claims. Some of the reasons that favored the increase in number of the boomerang kids include a bad economy that has led to the reduction of number of jobs in the job market, high divorce rates that result in many children being raised by single parents, and cultures that allow parents to keep their children at home even in their early 30’s.
To begin with, the current state of economy is one with few jobs in the job market (Adams, 2012). During recession, consumers’ purchasing power reduces because they have less disposable income. Organizations are minimizing operational costs by cutting down on the number of employees to remain competitive. Fewer operational costs will translate to lower selling prices for their products. Some companies also suffer due to recession as their revenues reduce to a point where their operational costs are higher than their revenues; their net revenue is equal to zero. When there is no revenue being generated then it would make no sense for the business to continue to exist. They will shut down permanently and reduce the number of employment opportunities. Lack of employment opportunities will mean that the boomerang kids will not be able to sustain themselves when they leave their parent’s house.
Moreover, high rates of divorce have led to an increase in the population of the boomerang kids (Adams, 2012). When children are raised by single parents who make low income, they will not be able to access good quality of education. The current job market requires that for one to score a good job then they must have a good academic background. Rising cost of education makes education inaccessible as the single parents have to cater for other expenses such as medical and utility bills in the house as well. Some might even drop out of school due to financial issues and join their parents in making ends meet. They will earn minimum wages due to their current level of education and this won’t be enough for them to survive on their own. They will not move out of their parent’s house.
Some cultures promote and allow for boomerang kids to stay in their parent’s house (Fingerman & Furstenburg, 2012). Some kids grow up seeing their older siblings, neighbors or relatives living with their parents and assume that the world is okay with this. Some cultures, mostly the oriental cultures, encourage families to stay together as long as possible to promote unity and oneness in the family. Some parents who are raised in such cultures believe that they should stay with their kids as long as they are still alive. Such cultures will encourage the boomerang kids to extend their stay at their parent’s house. They will deem this as a right thing to do and will therefore not receive any nudge to move out and be independent.
In summary, a lot of factors encourage the boomerang kids to continue with their stay at their parent’s houses. Some of these factors include cultures that support the habit of kids prolonging their stay at their parent’s houses, financial constraints due to the state of the economy that disallows such kids to have the financial stability that they require to be independent, and some of them lack the right level of education to secure the jobs that will give them this financial stability. Parents should support their kids at all times but should not fail to encourage them to work hard so that they can be independent as well.
References
Adams, J. (2012, May 31). Why kids don’t leave home — it’s not (just) the economy. The HuffingtonPost . Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-adams/boomerang_b_1558793.html
Fingerman , K., & Furstenburg , F. (2012, May 30). You can go home again. The New York Times . Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/31/opinion/the
