The Kids Are Alright? What About The Parents?

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When kids go off to college or grad school, the absence left at home can sometimes be a struggle for parents. But when the kids come home for the Holidays, more problems sometimes arise...sometimes. Joann S. Lubin of The Wall Street Journal discusses more in her article The Toll on Parents When Kids Return Home:

Many young adults find themselves still tethered to the Bank of Mom and Dad, and that dependence is taking a toll.

Kevin Davis moved back home last December after receiving a business finance degree from the University of North Carolina. He has yet to land a full-time job.

The 25-year-old often commiserates with his father, John, an information-technology professional who was laid off as a project manager in October 2010 for the second time since 2007. "At times, it's hard for me to keep up my own spirits as well as Kevin's," admits John Davis, a resident of Winston-Salem, N.C., who currently receives unemployment insurance.

As recent college graduates scramble to find full-time jobs, numerous parents are helping their children pay bills or letting them live at home again. About 59% of parents provide or recently provided financial assistance to children aged 18 to 39 who weren't students, concluded a May survey of nearly 1,100 people by the National Endowment for Financial Education.

According to Census data, 5.9 million Americans between 25 and 34 years of age—nearly a quarter of whom have bachelor's degrees—live with their parents, a significant increase from 4.7 million before the recession.

But many parents can't afford the extra expense. A full 26% of those polled by the nonprofit group took on more debt to help their offspring, 13% delayed a planned life event such as a home purchase, and 7% postponed retirement.

Compounding the problem is the fact that certain parents are crowding the younger generation out of the job market because their support of their grown kids means they can't afford to retire.

Kevin, a licensed pilot with aspirations to run an airport, says he knows someone more than twice his age who beat him for an airport managerial post this summer because the older man had more experience.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal