Generation Boomerang

In class today we watched a documentary called “Generation Boomerang” it was about how many young adults are staying at home longer. “In Canada 51% of adults ages 20-29 are still living at home”. In my family sociology class there is a section in the text book Changing Families that discusses why children are staying home longer than before and it states similar facts that the documentary stated.

It stated that young adults stay home longer because:

1.      They stay in the educational system longer and this is costly

2.      Low-paying jobs force them to stay with parents longer for financial reasons

3.      Higher rent is not affordable for lower in-comes

This is similar to what the documentary stated, but also that parents may not push their children very much to leave “the nest”. Parents are rising this generation to meet own needs rather than helping their aging parents. Before once children were old enough if they needed to they would help their parents, but now parents are still taking care of their adult children. This is transition reversals where the child that left but then returns home because of unemployment or other financial problems or a relationship has ended, which was all seen in the documentary. Before the term “adolescent” did not exist, but now it does because that age group now goes to high school, whereas before they worked at that age. Now the term “emerging adulthood” exists, because young adults go to secondary education now. It is another phase of life now. Christina Newberry wrote the book The Hands on Guide to Surviving Adult Children living at Home. She returned home twice and wrote a book and has a website that gives tips and advance on what to do and how to survive when your adult child moves back home. Here is the link to her website: http://www.adultchildrenlivingathome.com/.  

Ambert, A (2006) Changing Families. Toronto, ON: Pearson Canada.