Parents Stuck With Their Kids

[lostfan]

Wow not even typing? That was mandatory for me in middle school.

My stepdaughter didn't learn that in school (it was probably available but that's not where she got it), she just taught it to herself somehow.

[bmags]

How are they going to learn to type quickly on message boards?

[StrangeSox]

Wow not even typing? That was mandatory for me in middle school.

 

Nope. Handwriting/cursive is gone as well, but inexplicably it's not replaced by typing. 90%+ of her students are hunt-and-peck typers. This is in a pretty solid upper/mid middle-class exurb school district.

[greg775]

So any parents in here want to inform about how their kids' friends have been raised. Anybody have any kids 20 to 30? What is coming out of their mouths in regard to college and the working world? Do they assume they are going to make big bucks? Do they care either way? And commitment that we've read about. I was in more than 10 weddings for sure between 22 and 30. Are kids getting married? Give me an insight into what you are seeing in your world about Millenials and Xers at home and work please.

Edited July 13, 2016 by greg775

[Chisoxfn]

So any parents in here want to inform about how their kids' friends have been raised. Anybody have any kids 20 to 30? What is coming out of their mouths in regard to college and the working world? Do they assume they are going to make big bucks? Do they care either way? And commitment that we've read about. I was in more than 10 weddings for sure between 22 and 30. Are kids getting married? Give me an insight into what you are seeing in your world about Millenials and Xers at home and work please.

Greg - I am 32 and a millenial, have a job (am in mid to upper management for a large financial institution), am married (with two kids). Vast majority of my friends are married, with about half having kids / in-process of having kids, and most with some form of decent jobs in the grand scheme of things (all doing a variety of different things in their careers and in most cases, people I have known since middle-school / high-school as my colleagues I met at work would skew it more in the direction of good jobs, etc).

 

Bottom line....22 year olds don't get married as much and have kids anyway these days (you go to school, don't start careers to later because of it, etc). Its just part of life and to have financial security it takes a bit more time to get independent, etc. I don't think a lot has really changed and a bunch of people hang onto one measly stat and go crazy over it (and such stat may not actually mean anything).

 

What a shock...most 18 year olds don't have kids and / or are married...I can use that data to say look, millenials aren't getting married (no...18 year olds aren't getting married and that is largely a consistent trend over the past 30 years).

[Soxfest]

I moved out at 19 working part time making 110 dollars a week

[Rowand44]

Big differences can definitely exist between school districts. My wife's district isn't exactly poorly funded, but they have little or no tech classes e.g. no basic typing or computer skills.

Woah, that's pretty crazy to me. As bmags said, I was taking typing when I was in Middle School too.

[Iwritecode]

Woah, that's pretty crazy to me. As bmags said, I was taking typing when I was in Middle School too.

 

I had my first computer class in 9th grade learning BASIC programming on an Apple IIe computer. But I didn't have a formal typing/keyboarding class until either 10th or 11th grade and it was an elective.

Edited July 14, 2016 by Iwritecode

[Iwritecode]

So any parents in here want to inform about how their kids' friends have been raised. Anybody have any kids 20 to 30? What is coming out of their mouths in regard to college and the working world? Do they assume they are going to make big bucks? Do they care either way? And commitment that we've read about. I was in more than 10 weddings for sure between 22 and 30. Are kids getting married? Give me an insight into what you are seeing in your world about Millenials and Xers at home and work please.

 

For all the generalizations you have in your head about kids today, they really aren't that much different than we were at the same age. They want to go to college. They want to get a good job. They want to have a house and kids someday.

 

Sure there are going to be those that expect everything handed to them on a platter. There will be others that live at home until they are 30 and never really do a whole lot with their lives. I had friends that were like that when I was that age too. They really aren't as different as you'd like to believe.

[caulfield12]

http://news.nationalpost.com/life/everythi...ennial-monsters

 

This article blames the majority of problems for Millenials largely on the Baby Boomers (those 53-71 years old today).

 

Greg, a response???

[greg775]

http://news.nationalpost.com/life/everythi...ennial-monsters

 

This article blames the majority of problems for Millenials largely on the Baby Boomers (those 53-71 years old today).

 

Greg, a response???

Hi Caulfield,

Yes Boomers are despicable. I'm not joking. Yes Boomers have totally ruined it all. What happened is many of us had rich parents and we resented them for being distant parents. Yes Boomers are the last generation where dads NEVER went to their sons' little league games or grade school games or high school games. Boomers' dads on the south side went to the BARS after work and got s***faced drunk. Most of the dads on the south side never played catch with their kids even. They were the bad guys in the house, the disciplinarians and you never got anything from your dad but threats. Moms were not nearly as paranoid if that's the right word as they are now. They'd set you free to walk to school or walk the streets of Chicago with your friends after school and all day and night in the summer and only tell you to come home and eat. No keeping track of where you were AT ALL.

 

Now for some reason, Boomers decided to raise their kids TOTALLY hands on. Involved in every aspect of kiddies' lives and didn't parent them but buddied them up. Yes, Boomers are the scourge. Boomers are very very bad.

HOWEVER, the ensuing generations have even been worse about coddling their kids, etc. So whereas the Boomers started this, my gosh, have you seen 30 something parents in action? They have no clue and their kids are running the house hold.

 

As far as Boomers being stuck with their grown up kids, good for them. They get what they deserve, what they asked for, dependent kids.

Most Boomers got kicked out of their houses after college. Daddy told me, OUT! You will get a job and you will work and you are off my insurance NOW. Come see me when you are a responsible adult and we'll go golfing or have a beer. Until that day, get out of my sight.

But these same Boomers will let em live in the basement and give them participation trophies while secretly worrying that their kids may never get a good job.

So yes Caulfield, Boomers started this mess and are the cause of this mess. But the ensuing generations, whatever we are calling them, are actually worse. Way worse.

Edited April 14, 2017 by greg775

[caulfield12]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/15/opinions/the...nion/index.html

 

In the end, nearly everyone will be stuck with their kids due to robotics/automation.

 

Trump won't be able to do a single thing about it.

[greg775]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/15/opinions/the...nion/index.html

 

In the end, nearly everyone will be stuck with their kids due to robotics/automation.

 

Trump won't be able to do a single thing about it.

That's probably true. I mean 10 years ago who'd have thought I phones would rule us all. I could easily see in 10 years robots control everything. I think u are ahead of the curve here.

[Jerksticks]

Yes I agree. It was really the obsolescence of "guys at desks" that started the decline. Gone are the days of the middle-management stooge, which probably represented tens of millions of Americans. And gone are the guys at factories forever. So now you have to officially be good at something.

 

The gap between have and havenot is going to keep increasing and taxing the rich won't do a damn thing. Not one iota of one thing. Neither will blowharding about bringing jobs back. Get good at something or you're not getting a decent house and sending kids to school.

 

I don't blame the Boomers. It was inevitable. The PC crowd, kids being babies, the global economy, automation etc. was inevitable. It sucks PC has to exist but dah well. All we can do is teach our kids to respect everybody the same and to never ever become a social justice warrior.

[greg775]

Yes I agree. It was really the obsolescence of "guys at desks" that started the decline. Gone are the days of the middle-management stooge, which probably represented tens of millions of Americans. And gone are the guys at factories forever. So now you have to officially be good at something.

 

The gap between have and havenot is going to keep increasing and taxing the rich won't do a damn thing. Not one iota of one thing. Neither will blowharding about bringing jobs back. Get good at something or you're not getting a decent house and sending kids to school.

 

I don't blame the Boomers. It was inevitable. The PC crowd, kids being babies, the global economy, automation etc. was inevitable. It sucks PC has to exist but dah well. All we can do is teach our kids to respect everybody the same and to never ever become a social justice warrior.

Great post. Your take is a great one. You either officially are good at something or you are not getting a decent house and sending kids to school. Your take on middle management stooges being gone is also amazing. You hit the nail on the head. I'd say 7 out of every 10 people in the future will be doing fast food sales or nothing at all. Three of 10 will get good at something.

[caulfield12]

I plan to teach my son that the path of a Gandhi, MLK, Mother Teresa or Obama is just as valid as being a billionaire business tycoon.

 

In the end, our charities, churches/ministries and social justice warriors will be the only ones fighting for those made obsolete by this new economy.

 

 

Below is one of the solutions Bernie Sanders has proposed...

 

What is to be done? There is a possible solution to the economic challenge: universal basic income. Our economy still generates enormous wealth. The question is how to get that wealth to the people who need it.

 

The answer might be to provide every American with an income sufficient to buy the basics -- food, clothing, shelter and modest pleasures such as recreation and a bit of travel. There are details to work out, such as how high to set the basic income level so as to cover everyone's needs without turning everyone into a lazy bum. But the concept is straightforward, and its implementation could be surprisingly easy, perhaps building upon the Social Security system. Moreover the cost is reasonable. Divide current total US personal income, around $13 trillion, by current population, around 320 million, and we get a universal basic income around $40,000 per person. Not bad.

 

The harder problem is the psychological one and the attendant social and cultural problems. What happens to human nature in a world without work? Will we all become sloths? Or, freed from the need to work, might we find within ourselves a hidden Michelangelo, an unknown Patsy Cline or an undiscovered Maya Angelou? We might find out sooner than we think.

[greg775]

I plan to teach my son that the path of a Gandhi, MLK, Mother Teresa or Obama is just as valid as being a billionaire business tycoon.

 

In the end, our charities, churches/ministries and social justice warriors will be the only ones fighting for those made obsolete by this new economy.

 

 

Below is one of the solutions Bernie Sanders has proposed...

 

What is to be done? There is a possible solution to the economic challenge: universal basic income. Our economy still generates enormous wealth. The question is how to get that wealth to the people who need it.

 

The answer might be to provide every American with an income sufficient to buy the basics -- food, clothing, shelter and modest pleasures such as recreation and a bit of travel. There are details to work out, such as how high to set the basic income level so as to cover everyone's needs without turning everyone into a lazy bum. But the concept is straightforward, and its implementation could be surprisingly easy, perhaps building upon the Social Security system. Moreover the cost is reasonable. Divide current total US personal income, around $13 trillion, by current population, around 320 million, and we get a universal basic income around $40,000 per person. Not bad.

 

The harder problem is the psychological one and the attendant social and cultural problems. What happens to human nature in a world without work? Will we all become sloths? Or, freed from the need to work, might we find within ourselves a hidden Michelangelo, an unknown Patsy Cline or an undiscovered Maya Angelou? We might find out sooner than we think.

Wow. That is a cool concept.

[Jerksticks]

I plan to teach my son that the path of a Gandhi, MLK, Mother Teresa or Obama is just as valid as being a billionaire business tycoon.

 

In the end, our charities, churches/ministries and social justice warriors will be the only ones fighting for those made obsolete by this new economy.

 

 

Below is one of the solutions Bernie Sanders has proposed...

 

What is to be done? There is a possible solution to the economic challenge: universal basic income. Our economy still generates enormous wealth. The question is how to get that wealth to the people who need it.

 

The answer might be to provide every American with an income sufficient to buy the basics -- food, clothing, shelter and modest pleasures such as recreation and a bit of travel. There are details to work out, such as how high to set the basic income level so as to cover everyone's needs without turning everyone into a lazy bum. But the concept is straightforward, and its implementation could be surprisingly easy, perhaps building upon the Social Security system. Moreover the cost is reasonable. Divide current total US personal income, around $13 trillion, by current population, around 320 million, and we get a universal basic income around $40,000 per person. Not bad.

 

The harder problem is the psychological one and the attendant social and cultural problems. What happens to human nature in a world without work? Will we all become sloths? Or, freed from the need to work, might we find within ourselves a hidden Michelangelo, an unknown Patsy Cline or an undiscovered Maya Angelou? We might find out sooner than we think.

 

I feel like you were reading too much into my intent with my SJW comment. I just meant wanting to burn people at the stake by making sweeping generalizations based on isolated incidents of wrong. Not the ways of Gandhi, MLK & Mother Teresa. It's Easter. Let's hope some people get overwhelmed by feelings of love, tolerance & forgiveness today.

 

[Jack Parkman]

Guys, those who think that millenials are whiny entitled b****es have it all wrong. IMO it is the opposite. We're just looking for an opportunity to prove ourselves in any aspect. I have been trying to find a job for 5 years and can't even get a retail job, let alone one to support myself on. Companies will make any excuse not to hire a person 30 or younger, especially one who is down on their luck. I have gotten the following excuses for not hiring me: 1) "You're overqualified based on education" 2) "You don't have enough industry experience for this job" 3) You've been out of school too long" I have heard tons and tons of stories of those who have a college degree, even a tech degree, and can't find work for not months, but YEARS. I literally can't believe job postings where the title says ENTRY LEVEL on it but asks for 5+ years of experience or qualifications you can only get with at least 3 years of industry experience. What the guy said was right, that maybe 20-30% of people under 30 are going to be working. Literally, you have to be the best of the best in order to get hired now. If you have any flaw whatsoever, if there is any excuse that "business people" use to disqualify you from a job, they will use it. You have to be squeaky clean. Nothing going against you, god forbid you have a disability like I do. If it is this hard out there for the common twentysomething, how hard is it going to be for me, who has another hill to climb altogether?

 

I feel a total and utter lack of control of any aspect of my life, because we are reaching a time when just wanting to work and working hard when you get there isn't enough anymore. You have to be incredibly driven, incredibly talented and incredibly disciplined in order to get anywhere. Otherwise you're going to be discarded from society, and viewed as a maggot or leech. I am of the belief that now, there aren't enough jobs period in this country for the population. Arguing over the potential for laziness or not wanting to do anything or entitlements is over. I really don't believe that people don't want to do anything ever, just want to hang out all day and do nothing productive. I've been there, and it is the most depressing thing ever. You have no value to anyone, and you question your very existence. We either need to solve the problem or face the collapse of our country.

 

 

 

[caulfield12]

Good post.

 

The same situation exists for those 50 and over, because they're too expensive or have too much experience, the former "middle level" managers in the corporate world.

 

As a teacher in China, I'd say there are a lot more opportunities than in the US, so one thing you might want to consider is opportunities in other countries outside the US, if that's a possibility.

 

Of course, the other difficult path it forces lots of young people on is trying to start their own small business related to the new online economy. That obviously requires capital and less aversion to risk, so students graduating with gargantuan student loan debts being forced to consider taking on more high-risk loans for a business that probably has an 80% at failure, has to be incredibly scary

 

Another factor is how fewer and fewer companies are guaranteeing pensions or 401k's or retirement match programs.

 

 

 

[greg775]

Guys, those who think that millenials are whiny entitled b****es have it all wrong. IMO it is the opposite. We're just looking for an opportunity to prove ourselves in any aspect. I have been trying to find a job for 5 years and can't even get a retail job, let alone one to support myself on. Companies will make any excuse not to hire a person 30 or younger, especially one who is down on their luck. I have gotten the following excuses for not hiring me: 1) "You're overqualified based on education" 2) "You don't have enough industry experience for this job" 3) You've been out of school too long" I have heard tons and tons of stories of those who have a college degree, even a tech degree, and can't find work for not months, but YEARS. I literally can't believe job postings where the title says ENTRY LEVEL on it but asks for 5+ years of experience or qualifications you can only get with at least 3 years of industry experience. What the guy said was right, that maybe 20-30% of people under 30 are going to be working. Literally, you have to be the best of the best in order to get hired now. If you have any flaw whatsoever, if there is any excuse that "business people" use to disqualify you from a job, they will use it. You have to be squeaky clean. Nothing going against you, god forbid you have a disability like I do. If it is this hard out there for the common twentysomething, how hard is it going to be for me, who has another hill to climb altogether?

 

I feel a total and utter lack of control of any aspect of my life, because we are reaching a time when just wanting to work and working hard when you get there isn't enough anymore. You have to be incredibly driven, incredibly talented and incredibly disciplined in order to get anywhere. Otherwise you're going to be discarded from society, and viewed as a maggot or leech. I am of the belief that now, there aren't enough jobs period in this country for the population. Arguing over the potential for laziness or not wanting to do anything or entitlements is over. I really don't believe that people don't want to do anything ever, just want to hang out all day and do nothing productive. I've been there, and it is the most depressing thing ever. You have no value to anyone, and you question your very existence. We either need to solve the problem or face the collapse of our country.

Jack, what is your field? You sound like a sharp guy. Cmon Soxtalk, let's get Jack a job.

Jack, out of curiosity, you've been looking for five years. Where do you live? Are your parents freaked out? You might do what caulfield suggested and head overseas to teach a year or so just to end your slump.

 

p.s. You said you can't even get a retail job. In five years, you couldn't get a retail job at all? No jobs whatsoever?

Edited April 24, 2017 by greg775

[caulfield12]

The only problem with doing that (it's a great opportunity to travel and see the world as well), is that once you start a "teacher track," then you have to work even harder to go back to the regular world.

 

I actually did AmeriCorps/non-profit work for five years and just needed a break (or so I thought) from getting a bit burned out, and here I am 15 years later still teaching. But yeah, if you give yourself a set time frame, such as 2-3 years, and you teach something related to business/marketing/advertising/HR, then it might not disadvantage you as much.

 

As the saying goes, it's MUCH easier to find another job once you already have one than for your permanent job to be looking for work. I've been in that situation, luckily...just once in my life, where you're caught between taking temp and less than your perfect/ideal job and then knowing that you're eating into your savings or creating debt for every day you're not working. It drove me crazy after just 2-3 months trying to figure out what to do, and I probably worked for half of that time period in temp jobs to have an income stream coming in. Of course, when you're working, even in a temp job, full-time, it doesn't give you much free time to search for a job if you're under pressure to perform in order to keep that temporary position on a week-to-week basis.

 

My problem is that I started out working for a minor league baseball team and then an NFL football player's charity foundation, so it was especially hard to give up that "dream" type of job for a "regular" one, but I reached the conclusion at the time that working in professional sports was taking away my love for the game and also I was getting caught up in that materialistic lifestyle from being around athletes and celebrities and thinking I needed to spend money to fit in with them.

 

 

Edited April 24, 2017 by caulfield12

[greg775]

The only problem with doing that (it's a great opportunity to travel and see the world as well), is that once you start a "teacher track," then you have to work even harder to go back to the regular world.

 

I actually did AmeriCorps/non-profit work for five years and just needed a break (or so I thought) from getting a bit burned out, and here I am 15 years later still teaching. But yeah, if you give yourself a set time frame, such as 2-3 years, and you teach something related to business/marketing/advertising/HR, then it might not disadvantage you as much.

 

As the saying goes, it's MUCH easier to find another job once you already have one than for your permanent job to be looking for work. I've been in that situation, luckily...just once in my life, where you're caught between taking temp and less than your perfect/ideal job and then knowing that you're eating into your savings or creating debt for every day you're not working. It drove me crazy after just 2-3 months trying to figure out what to do, and I probably worked for half of that time period in temp jobs to have an income stream coming in. Of course, when you're working, even in a temp job, full-time, it doesn't give you much free time to search for a job if you're under pressure to perform in order to keep that temporary position on a week-to-week basis.

 

My problem is that I started out working for a minor league baseball team and then an NFL football player's charity foundation, so it was especially hard to give up that "dream" type of job for a "regular" one, but I reached the conclusion at the time that working in professional sports was taking away my love for the game and also I was getting caught up in that materialistic lifestyle from being around athletes and celebrities and thinking I needed to spend money to fit in with them.

Nice post. You are doing well.

Jack Parkman says he's been looking for a job for five years and can't even get a retail job. This is where I'd like more facts to delve more into the Millenial thing.

What does that mean looking for a job for five years? Does that mean just in one city, one suburb? Does it mean bugging your college admins to start helping you? Having your college advisor tell you how to get a f***ing job? Again, five years looking for a job? Does that mean applying every day? Does it mean only applying for jobs you are not gonna get? In five years you could get another degree. I realizes it costs money, but again, I don't know how anybody can look for a job for five years. Will the government give food stamps to a person who is actively seeking work for 5 years?

[caulfield12]

Greg, from my understanding, usually the limit for food stamps and/or unemployment benefits typically ranges from 3-6 months.

 

Now there might be a separate program related to those with disabilities that the government administers to supplement incomes or provide income support, but it depends on what the specific circumstances are, level of impairment, etc.

 

This whole discussion leads to a new category of work (and not an automated one), related to the general category of human resources/job counseling-related social work, which is assisting all those individuals whose jobs have been outsourced/downsized (and those are mainly in their 40's and 50's) as well as the younger generation of workers under 30 who are having such a difficult time, those who were in college or just graduating at the time of the financial crisis in 2008/09.

 

One obvious problem is that the likelihood of getting Federal funding for this type of program seems to be diminishing by the day. Efforts will have to come from the states and municipalities, local charities/churches, United Ways, etc.

Edited April 24, 2017 by caulfield12

[RockRaines]

Here is where I got my start:

 

http://www.cdwjobs.com/ShowJob/Id/987145/S...y-Level-Inside/

 

They hire a ton of people, same with CH Robinson, Coyote etc. Entry level sales, work your ass off and move up. I havent seen these jobs slowing down at all, which is why its confusing when new grads cant find a job. I have a psych degree and I am in tech sales. I made 23k out of college in base salary and worked my ass off to make more. Even my tiny company has 3 open entry level sales jobs.

 

https://www.coyote.com/logistics-jobs/#logi...cs-jobs-section

 

https://chrobinson.csod.com/ats/careersite/...mp;c=chrobinson