When your kids move out of the house, you expect them to go off and do great things. They may go to college, get a job, and even start a family. What you don’t expect is for them to boomerang back into your home after a year or so because of a tough economy.
Well, get ready for the boomerang generation.
More and more of today’s Generation Z-ers who have graduated and moved out are suddenly moving back in. It’s because they’ve been let go from a job, because rent is too high, or because they simply don’t have the financial means to make it on their own.
The start of the pandemic started the effect. Those who were laid off couldn’t make ends meet. So, they moved back home.
And the moving back isn’t just to benefit the kids. Parents often benefit, too – particularly older parents who may be on fixed incomes. The kids will contribute financially in some way, providing more financial stability for everyone.
Of course, that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes, the kids move back home and don’t have a job. They are a financial drain on the parents – and that’s when it’s more important than ever to establish boundaries and ground rules.
Stacy Kaiser, a psychotherapist, suggests “That might include things like paying rent or having to have a job, or making sure that you participate in chores so that you are a part of the community in the house and not just getting a meal ticket.”
Approximately 67% of the boomerang kids that were established during the pandemic are still living at home.
Zoe Czerenda lives in her childhood bedroom of her parent’s home in Connecticut. It’s been three years since she graduated college. And now, the 25-year-old is dealing with excessive student loan debt, a low-paying job at a pharmaceutical company, and the pink carpet that she chose as a teen.
She’s working remotely – and she doesn’t see a way to get out of her parent’s home anytime soon. “They say you’re supposed to make three times your rent to afford it. I don’t.” And she said that many of those who graduated with her are also living at home with their parents.
Her father, Mike Czerenda, doesn’t blame her for living at home. He’s upset that children today are struggling to be able to get a job so that they can move out and live on their own comfortably.
And the story of what Czerenda is living with is all too common.
Welcome to Biden’s America. Everything is expensive, we’re headed toward a recession where it will be even harder to find work, and housing is so expensive that it isn’t feasible for individuals to live on their own.
Families are having to accept their boomerang kids with open arms for countless reasons. They can’t let their kids become homeless. And, with today’s gas and grocery prices, having at least some kind of financial assistance come in can make it easier to live comfortably.
Maybe the boomerang kids will end once Biden’s presidential term comes to an end, too. Hey, we can hope…right?
