85% of this year's college graduates will be moving back home

[Liberal_in_LA]

Student Loan Debt And Tough Job Market Send College Graduates Back Home

May 17, 2011

Faced with a high unemployment rate, a mountain of debt and a competitive job market, many 2011 college graduates will be returning to the nest after receiving their diploma.

The New York Post reported that a survey conducted by consultant firm Twentysomething Inc. showed that 85 percent of this year's graduating class will be moving back home; that's up from 67 percent in 2006. While moving back in with mom and dad is not ideal, many grads simply have no other choice.

Despite the fact that companies are beginning to hire, many young people are still having trouble finding a job. As the New York Post pointed out, young adults are extremely frustrated with the job hunt.

"I've applied for between five and 10 jobs a day, and have had a bunch of interviews that have gone really well," said Madison Grieco, a straight-A student who earned her bachelor's degree from Berklee College of Music and took business classes at Columbia and Harvard. "Each time they say the same thing--we've got no jobs, hopefully we can call you in a few months."

http://www.citytowninfo.com/career-and-education-news/a...

[HughBeaumont]

1. USA! USELESS A!! USED-US-A!!

I believe the children are our future
teach them well and let them lead the way
show them all the beauty they posess inside . . .
give them a sense of pride . . .

[Johnyawl]

2. Luckily, my son is in the other 15%.

He's graduating with a Bachelors of Science Degree in June, and has been accepted into grad school.(Veterinary School of Medicine)

[Manifestor_of_Light]

5. Vets are probably fairly recession-proof.

Yay for Aggie schools!!!

[Shagbark Hickory]

46. I don't think that's the case at all. Vets make very little in comparison to people doctors.

Vets are constantly getting bitched at about their prices and if people don't have the money, they put their pet to sleep, or set it loose somehwere or turn it in to the pound or let just it suffer.

I often wonder after leaving the vets office if I actually lost more money from taking off work to be there than they made from me. And I aint got no college degree. Nor will I be paying a student loan off for the rest of my life.

[Johnyawl]

59. On avearage they make less then MDs, but they're not exactly hurting..

http://www.healthcaresalaryonline.com/veterinarian-sala...

"On an annual basis the average Veterinarian salary is $90,110. The lowest 10% earn less than $47,670 per year while the upper 10% earn more than $142,910 per year."

So, like any proffesional service it all depends on where the vet locates, and how the vet runs their business. It is certainly NOT a recession proof business; as you state when people can't afford to pay the vet, they just don't get the animal treated. The clinic where my son is employed as a vet tech has seen their patient visits fall off by nearly 50%.

[Shagbark Hickory]

69. I may be in a tough market.

It seems like there's a vet/animal hospital in every shopping center, few seem busy to the point where there's people waiting in the lobby. Appointments are seldom necessary it seems.
It seems like they're trying to make money on everything they can, grooming and boarding especially.
The vet I was getting for a while looks absolutely miserable everytime I see him. Lots of turnover.

How it is for your son in a different area may be much much different.

[Horse with no Name]

71. Spot on. I know several vets that don't make as much money as they thought they would.

HOWEVER, they are all animal lovers and it doesn't really bother them.

I do know one vet who went back to Medical School and because a Doctor. He says vet school was a lot harder. Go figure.

[Shagbark Hickory]

80. I've heard the same. Know a couple of people myself who planned to go to vet school and either

dropped out or chickened out once they found out it's harder than med school and the pay isn't as good.

[pstokely]

15. But what about after that?

nt

[Johnyawl]

30. he was out on his own, and gainfully employed...

...when he quit his well paid job with the masons union, and went back to college. I have no doubt that with a DVM he'll find work. He's already working as a vet tech, and has interned at a couple of large commercial dairies.

[closeupready]

60. Congratulations on raising such a successful son.

[Initech]

3. Time to go Egypt on Wall St.

[canoeist52]

4. This causes a strain on we of the "Middle Years" parent group.

My son is basically stuck with us until the loans are paid. 2 yrs college -$550. a month for 10 yrs means he can't afford an apt. or a house. At least he has a job as a machinist using the skills he got at his vocational high school.

[upi402]

6. None were taught labor history either. n/t

[GKirk]

7. Not if you change the locks...

...before they try to move back.

[girl gone mad]

8. k & r

[Canuckistanian]

9. Has that changed much since 20 years ago?

Not many college graduates back then had enough dough to move out right after graduation, IIRC.

I'm guessing that it's DRASTICALLY different after the post graduation one-year mark, though.

[Liberal_in_LA]

52. increase of 20% in just 5 years.

[ecstatic]

10. College of Music?

It's a really good idea to do some research before choosing a major!

[Juche]

12. Because if she had studied something else, she'd have a good job......

The people with degrees in 'serious' fields like nursing, math, chemistry, economics, etc are struggling too. A coworker of mine was telling me how her friend's mom is a nursing instructor, and how she was saying all the kids who thought a degree in nursing would open up career doors are going to be sadly disappointed when they graduate.

Due to the recession a lot of boomer nurses who were going to retire can't, and are staying on the job. Plus a lot of part time nurses are becoming full time because a spouse or child was laid off. And nurses who left the field are going back for the same reason (family members are laid off, so they need the extra money). Plus with high unemployment people are putting off medical care. THe end result is that nursing jobs are hard to find for new graduates since so many people already in the field are staying there, or converting part time to full time. Increased supply of experienced nurses since fewer are retiring and the ones already in the field want more hours + decreased demand for nurses since people are putting off medical care in the recession = unemployment for new grads.

The reason I bring up nursing is 5 years ago nursing was promoted as a 'guaranteed job out of college' degree and there was endless talk about the nursing shortage (before this recesson, job openings in the field outnumbered applicants by several hundred thousand nationwide), so the schools are/were highly competitive because nursing is/was seen as a way to get a 40k a year job out of college with an associates degree. I'm not a nursing major, but the point is even the most 'in demand' degree doesn't pay off in this recession.

If the degree that is promoted as the most likely to lead to a good job now leads to unemployment then you can't really blame the major. All majors are suffering as far as I know.

[GKirk]

18. Not saying you are wrong...

...but I don't know an area where they aren't hiring nurses.

[PVnRT]

43. Plenty of areas aren't, because older nurses aren't retiring

[Yo_Mama]

68. I do

I was wandering around in middle NJ, and while I was waiting for my oil to be changed I started talking to a nurse grad who was working at a nursing home on the weekends, because she hadn't found a job yet. Upon further inquiries, several of the local hospitals have been laying off nurses.

They're trying to cut their costs.

I know nurses in GA who aren't getting anything other than on-call work, and are driving an hour and a half to get that.

[Horse with no Name]

73. Lots of areas.

Also, lots of hospitals have gone to Magnet Status which shuts the LPN's out of the job market. Many of the Magnet hospitals are changing their standards and hiring ONLY BSN's--which shuts the ADN's out of the job market.

As stated above, people aren't leaving their jobs--PRN's are converting to full-time because of spouses losing jobs--there are a lot of factors converging on our profession right now.
This isn't to mention the deliberate understaffing by the hospitals.

[tsuki]

24. This is why I believe the Overlord class wants to destroy Medicare.

They were frightened by all the talk of moving eligibility to Medicare with a buy-in to 55. I believe that would have lead to early retirement for quite a few people. Currently, health insurance is the American equivalent of indentured servitude.

[TuxedoKat]

25. Someone told me that about the dental hygiene profession too

very few jobs for new grads.

[ecstatic]

38. I come from a family of nurses

so I know things are hard for new graduates right now, but at some point that time will pass, and those who are prepared will see the benefits. Those who did nothing because they kept a short term outlook on things will be scrambling to get undesirable jobs.

[Juche]

40. It might be 2020 by then

That is what I've heard on it (you probably know more since members of your family work in the field though, my major wasn't nursing and I'm going off what I've heard in the news). I've heard that it will possibly be 2020 before the economy is secure enough and enough of the boomer nurses either choose to retire or are forced to for health reasons before the new grads to start getting into the field again.

A degree in nursing is still probably one of the most marketable degrees, and much more marketable than a degree in music. But even the graduates in the nursing field are having trouble in this economy despite it being promoted as the best degree to find a secure job available just a few years ago.

[ecstatic]

44. On a side note, people in that situation should look into potential business opportunities

in the home health care industry. Many nurses are starting their own home health agencies and doing very well.

[Horse with no Name]

74. IF the Medicare rules change

which it is a surety that some will--that will shut that down.

My mom works in an ancillary healthcare area that is almost completely Medicare funded. She is worried because they were told that their jobs would become almost extinct if the changes go through.

So many of healthcare jobs are dependent upon Medicare--I read at one time that 65% of healthcare costs are covered by Medicare. I can't verify that figure but I will at least say that it isn't that far off--especially in the hospital.

[PVnRT]

45. "that time will pass"

And in the meantime, how do the school loans, heating bills, car insurance payments and rent get paid?

[ecstatic]

48. School loans can be deferred, almost indefinitely last I checked

Unless it's a private loan. For the other stuff, hopefully they can move in with parents or a friend until things pick up. Unemployment for college grads is something like 4.5%. The grads also have to be willing to move out of state to get a job. I know several people who've had to move across the country to get work.

I know my points will be annoying to some, but I think college is a worthwhile investment.

[Juche]

67. College is a great investment

My degree has opened doors, and the experience of being in college made me much more mature and well rounded. It was worth the debt which I managed to pay off early by moving home and putting my extra money into principal payments. However what I meant in my original post was that it wouldn't matter if the person in the OP had studied something other than music, she'd still be struggling.

Nursing is probably still one of the most marketable degrees to get. But things are so bad that even new grads in that field are struggling.

[pstokely]

79. But it also makes you overqualified for minimum wage jobs

30 years Reaganomics has downsized, outsourced, offshored, and exported the jobs away

[Liberal_in_LA]

53. I remember when a nursing degree meant job security. n/t

[Hippo_Tron]

65. Nothing wrong with majoring in music, you just have to market yourself a bit more

Unless you're in a technical field, you don't learn a whole lot of actual knowledge that you will use in the workplace. What you do learn that is useful in the workplace is how to read, write, communicate, think critically, and in some cases do math. There's no reason you can't learn all of these things studying music just as well as you could learn them majoring in a liberal arts field. You just have to take the initiative to do so while you're studying and be able to convey on your resume that you did more than just play the Cello for four years.

[cemaphonic]

77. Also, Berklee tends to emphasize the "professional" in professional musician

They focus a lot more than a generic music school or even a conservatory on the business side of things, and have tons of networking contacts in musical theater and the tv/movie/advertising fields.

And like you say, except in some specialized cases, the degree topic doesn't really mean that much, especially a few years out from college. I went from a history degree into a computer programming job. My wife has a chemistry degree, and I was surprised at just how little value the job market places on a difficult hard-science degree like that.

[Greybnk48]

11. Two of our three kids (both < 30) have moved back home

and we now have 5 dogs! Two Bostons, a wiener, a shar Pei and a border collie/mutt. Our nest was empty for three years...no more! The tough part is that one's unemployed and the other is working at a temp job that ends in June. Hopefully that will change soon. But this seems to be the new normal!

[K8-EEE]

13. My 20 year old is graduating next week, def coming home

If there ever was time of "instant job offers" well, it's not now....nobody even really expects that anymore.

[Fumesucker]

14. I wonder what orphans do?

Move back to the orphanage?

[blueamy66]

19. Well, probably.

Both of my parents are gone.

If I don't pay my bills, I get a foreclosure notice and they cut off my phone service and there goes cable tv.

I don't have to pleasure of having anyone to fall back upon. Or should I say we?

In my day, college grads and those of the same age lived in apartments with multiple roommates. They worked at whatever job they could. They made sacrifices. No expensive cell phones, no eating out frequently, no car payments.

Maybe I was just lucky, as I went to University on scholarship and my union job paid for the other expenses, such as my last year of college and the books.

I know that times are really tough out there, but I just have to say....many parents these days are enablers. I don't have children, so I don't know of this unconditional love, which I am sure every parent will lecture me on soon.

I do know that my father enabled my brother to drink himself to death. If my Dad wouldn't have died, I would have probably been taken care of by him as well. As a matter of fact, he did help me outta a few jams. Now there is nobody on either side to help us financially if need be.

I see no good coming out of adult children moving back home for long periods of time.

Just my humble, experienced opinion and I'm sure I will get slammed...but hey, I lived it and wish that my Dad would have not supported my bro so much.

[Fumesucker]

20. I'm a bit past college grad age.. ;)

But yes, "we" would be correct, I had lost both my parents by the time I was 21 and everything they owned went into medical bills so I was on my own with a 17 year old brother to help out.

Which is what prompted my original question.

[blueamy66]

23. You have hard it harder than I.

I was 21 when my Mom passed and in my early 30s when my Dad passed.

Alot of his money went to in-home care. There was some money left, but that is a long story that I don't want to really get into on this board.

Hey, I'm all for helping your kid(s) out, but putting a time limit is probably a good idea.

Sounds like you turned out good.

[pstokely]

16. But for how long?

A summer or the rest of their lives?

[defendandprotect]

17. Another bad year for summer jobs for teenagers -- !!

[Brickbat]

21. Well, I did after I graduated. I didn't have a job yet because I wasn't sure where I wanted to live.

My parents and I agreed that I could live at home for three months -- the summer -- after graduation while I figured out my plans. I would then start paying rent on Sept. 1. I moved 500 miles away, found an apartment and started a job before the middle of August. It wasn't a big deal -- it was just a chance to take a breath after graduation.

[WinkyDink]

22. I did in 1971. So did many graduates.

[seabeyond]

26. i am kicking mine out at 18. already told them. sink or swim. up to them....

grinnin

[Dappleganger]

27. Ours won't be leaving the house, period.

They are staying here and going to school (one finishes her tech school this summer, the other one graduates in two weeks, then remaining here while commuting to college for the next four years.)

Jobs are really hard to find, GOOD jobs are like finding a needle in a haystack (NE FL). My challenge as a parent will be in transitioning to the position of dorm mom, hehe.

[Jkid]

28. The real problem with this is social

If their friends find out they're moving back with their parents, they'll still look down on them. They expect them to move out of their parents place into a crime-ridden area of a city and "get their ramen on". Trust me, that are people who think that way...

[pstokely]

78. That's how it used to be

You aren't raising the Hilton sisters, are you?

[AngryAmish]

29. Winning! The! Future!

[The2ndWheel]

31. We want society to pool its resources

but parents are supposed to kick their kids out at 18.

The further and higher people are expected to walk the tightrope out on their own, the larger and more numerous are the safety nets they need. We want everyone to be independent, but then everyone needs to depend on each other. They seem to be very conflicting ideas.

[Blasphemer]

32. 85%? Wow - and then there are those who never left... nt

[cbdo2007]

33. Um....no shit. Where else do you expect them to go?

It's normal, and has been for many years, to take 1-2 months to find a job after college.

[Juche]

41. Where'd you get 1-2 months?

It takes far longer than that now. Maybe in the 90s, 1-2 months was a reasonable time because employment was better. But now, not so much. Not only that but even when jobs do exist many jobs open to new grads are temp/contract jobs which are very insecure and have no benefits.

A lot of new grads are facing long term unemployment, underemployment or if they can find jobs in their field they are temp/contract jobs in a 2 tier wage system.

[cbdo2007]

57. Even so....whether it's 1-2 months like when i graduated from college....

or it's 1-2 years, the vast majority of people have always moved back home directly after college while they figure out what their next move was. I literally only knew a handful of people who had jobs lined up after college, and even a couple of them moved back home so they could find a place to live.

[Zywiec]

72. Exactly, do people really think students move from the dorm to an apartment?

This is not news.

Worse would be 85% of 30 year olds moving back in with their parents.

[mistertrickster]

34. Yup, and I saw on a morning show ticker that only 53 percent of

recent college grads got full-time jobs after 4 years . . .

[mistertrickster]

35. Robert Reich: Commerce dept figures show 2.4 million jobs LOST

in the US (over ten years) while US companies added 2.9 million jobs overseas.

This is the problem: no US jobs.

[bvar22]

36. In the 60s and 70s,

...it was possible to attend the State University and graduate DEBT FREE
if one was willing to work a part-time job.

We could have that again
IF we had a political party that represented the Working Class (the lower 98%).

Like Health Care, Education is considered a RIGHT in Civilized Countries.



Who will STAND and FIGHT for THIS American Majority?
"By their WORKS you will know them."

[blueamy66]

37. How about starting at a community college and then transferring the

credits to the University?

Or join the military and let them pay for their schooling?

[bvar22]

49. Join the Military???

During the bi-partisan War on Terror?
Risk deployment to the Middle East?
That would be a terrible price to pay for an education.
I wouldn't recommend it to to anyone.

When asked for advice on "Education",
I respond with a two questions:

*Are you interested in an education?
If so, go to college and major in English, History, or Sociology.

*Are you are interested in making good money?
If so, go to trade school and get a certificate in Air Conditioning, Auto Mechanics, or Plumbing.

[blueamy66]

50. It was just a suggestion.

Those trades that you mentioned can be learned in the military...or paid for by the military once the tour is over.

I work with 2 gentlemen whose 2 sons are getting a free education....one thru the AF and the other thru the Army.

I guess if depends on the young adult. Do they take the easy way out and depend on their parents or figure out another way. The military was just a suggestion.

[bvar22]

55. I have a better suggestion...

..a return to the Economic Policies that allowed anyone to obtain a University education by working part time, and graduating Debt Free.
THAT was the NORM in the late 60s.
I know because I did it,
but THAT was back when we had a Democratic Party that STOOD for The Working Class & The Poor.

[blueamy66]

63. Yes, that would be nice.

But I don't see it happening in the near future.

All tuition is out of control.

I want to go back to school and get another Bachelors....in Spanish. I've looked at both a CC and a University. The difference in tuition is crazy.

I'm gonna ask the owner of my company to help with some tuition.

But if he won't, I'll just take 2 classes a semester and find a way to pay.

Hey, my thinking behind this entire thread is the sense of entitlement young adults have and/or are given. I've worked since I was 14, non-stop. Yes, it was a different world back in the day...I

[themadstork]

62. English, History. . . sociology?

Interesting mix. Why two staples of the humanities, and then the relatively new social science? Seems like the thematic fit would be Philosophy.

[bvar22]

66. I initially listed Philosophy, and then replaced it with Sociology.

Someone who is well read will deal with Philosophy without actually taking a course labeled "Philosophy".
The Study of Philosophy is only meaningful for those who have secured the first three levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, and as such, is removed from the pleasures and pains of every day life.
I replaced it with Sociology because I felt it would focus on the growth and interface between cultures throughout History.

[Atman]

39. Our son just got is BS...and is now back home.

Damn...naked time is taking a serious hit.

[Shagbark Hickory]

47. I'm not even going to ask. nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

75. me either! n/t

[themadstork]

42. I wish more families lived together,

as in big clans, from great-grandmas to the little babies. : /

[Codeine]

54. Ugh.

I can't imagine five minutes of that shit. Zero privacy, baby shit stench mixed with old-people smell, trying to have a romantic married life in the same house as the parents, and breathing the recycled air of four generations just does not sound like any way to live.

It's no accident that society moved past that crap as soon as it was able.

[The2ndWheel]

58. Moved past is a bit much

More like arranged things differently while it could. Obviously circumstances can change.

[themadstork]

61. I love the idea of all that.

I guess I just like big families.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

51. I guess we were lucky. My daughter graduated a year and a half ago and she's been working ever since

However, she has a pretty diverse degree with zero student loan debt. It made things easier on her choosing a job when she didn't have to worry about repaying student loans.

[Philippine expat]

56. We were in a unique situation

our son graduated in 2002 and moved back home at our request.
We wanted him to live in our house because we spend 1/2 our time in the Philippines,
but as soon as he got his student loan paid off he bought his own place and moved
out because he felt weird when we were home

[jp11]

64. Many college grads are in the 'unique' position to pickup and move for work

unlike many of their parents who may be 'stuck' with a home they can't sell so they can't move for a job. There is then also the possibility of moving to another country for a job. It certainly has more 'risks' in picking up and going away from everything familiar and any known 'nets' like friends/family but those ARE options.

Certainly we'd all like to see college education free or cheap enough for many more people to go, not just kids but adults for some career shifts as we see fields decimated.

[Horse with no Name]

70. My daughter works at a grocery store with a couple of people who will be graduating from college

this year. Both had planned to leave their jobs.

One works in the office and just graduated with a degree in teaching. There aren't any jobs for teachers in this area, so she is going to stay where she is with the same job except now she has a degree.

The other graduated with a degree in Business and he was just promoted to a Dept. Manager and put on the Management track.

I do have to say that this grocery store chain does it best to move people up into positions to accommodate their achievements.

In the last couple of months, everyone has seen their hours cut because business was slow, but the manager had a meeting with everyone and told them that if they could hang in there, this was the only way he could save everyone's jobs--and that business picks up in the summer and then everyone will see their hours go up. This was an across-the-board hour cut--it affected them all. "Real" shared sacrifice.

[Liberal_in_LA]

76. I like it when management tries to save everyone's jobs instead of secretly creating a

list of layoffs