TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 2005 11:44:34 PM ]
Part of the American dream for youth growing up in the United States in the sixties, seventies and even up to the nineties was to leave home as a teenager, earn one's own money, and live on one's own, separately from parents. It's a trend that may be starting to take hold in India, doubtless spurred by economic growth (including the call centre revolution) as young people move away from home to boom towns that offer employment.
However, recent reports suggest that there is a reverse movement in the US. Young adults are starting to return to the parental home (if they leave at all).
According to a Census Bureau survey, almost 16 million American families had at least one child over 18 living at home in 2003, up 7% since 1995 and up 14% since 1985. Apparently, more and more young American adults are returning to mom and pop — after college, between jobs, after divorces, between house hunting. There is a term for such people – the boomerang kids.
Three main reasons are being offered for this new 'homecoming' — unaffordable housing prices, rising college debts, and a tight job market. Of these, housing seems to be the principle driver of the 'back-to-the-old-bedroom' movement. Nationwide, housing prices have gone through the roof. A single room studio now rents around $1000 a month in major metropolises such as New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles. Interest rates are still low, but average home prices for a single family home is in the region of $ 250,000. There is a chicken in every pot (mostly hormone fed, mass produced, and deep frozen), but a roof over one's head is another matter. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1005068.cms
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