One of the fastest growing phenomena in the Western world is that of the Boomerang generation: children who return to their parents after being independent for a while, this independence can take many forms, from young people living in the residence during their college years to young adults who have to return home after losing their jobs.
Some experts also consider young people who depend partly on their parents financially as part of the boomerang generation. These young people can live at home, but they receive financial help from their parents.
- This trend has increased considerably in the countries of Western Europe and North America in recent decades.
- Being a very rare phenomenon in countries in other regions such as Eastern Europe or Asia; besides unthinkable a few years ago.
- But what are the reasons for the rise of the boomerang generation?.
Some experts decide to focus their studies on the high rate of children returning to their parents as positive. The arguments they make are that these young people are not afraid to ask for help, which would have to do with greater emotional intelligence; and also that it could indicate a better relationship with their families than those experienced by previous generations.
However, the vast majority of experts in this phenomenon believe that this is a negative thing, although there may be many reasons for the emergence of the boomerang generation, the two most important are undoubtedly:
It is no secret to anyone that the labour market is not going through the best time, after the economic crisis of 2008 (known as the Great Recession, the worst crisis since 1929), many jobs were destroyed and it is much harder to find work.
This, which affects all sectors of society, is especially true among young workers: according to official data, in 2017 the rate of people under the age of 25 who did not find work was close to 40%, and that figure says nothing about other factors affecting the youth economy, such as the number of low-skilled jobs and low wages.
To this worrying fact, to inflation and rising prices (especially housing), it is not surprising that many young people live with their parents for a long time, so in many cases the main reason for the existence of the boomerang generation is economic.
However, money isn’t the only reason young people stay with their parents for a long time. Due to phenomena such as “helicopter parents,” some generation Y youth do not have enough self-confidence to start their lives independently.
This self-confidence, which has been fundamental throughout human history, is particularly important today because of the changes that are taking place in our society, however, the differences between the expectations of Generation Y and reality make many of them feel lost. two totally different ways of understanding the world:
Many young people, following the well-meaning advice of their parents, graduate and, in the end, do not find work, but how do they still think that the world is the same as 50 years ago, to decide to continue studying and master’s degree, learn languages, do unpaid internships?
The consequence? In their thirties, many young people earn little while working 40 hours a week (and sometimes much more). Worse, the vast majority of them are unable to adapt to the new social reality and will continue to try to achieve the same lifestyle as their parents, following a plan that no longer works.