Kids at home? The govt says be mean to them

SnowBunny

Well I suppose but it's just worrying. I struggled when I came out of university as my profession is very competitive, very few jobs etc. But I got a job doing anything and everything.. bar work, call centres etc.. I just did because I had no choice.

There are plenty of those jobs out there. I'm not sure why some of my friends even still live at home. As they are in full time employment and can afford to live on their own. Perhaps I'm mixing up the issues here

toby3000

I know a fair number of people who could easily afford to move out but stay at home, partly because it's cheap and easy and partly because there is a generation of middle class kids who expect to walk straight into a nice flat in a nice area with Sky TV and a run and car and all the rest of it.

I also know a lot of graduates who won't apply for jobs they consider 'below' them (well, at least for the first 6 months of unemployment!)

GregH

I never went to Uni, i left school at 18 and was determined to complete an apprenticeship, which i did. I lived at home until i was 25, when i bought my own house... 2 years later i rented my house out and moved back in with my parents!

My main reason for this is that i travel an awful lot with work and i'm very lucky if i'm home 3 nights a week. Having the expense of a 2 bed house all to myself was a waste for the time i was there.

I have always paid rent and i am extremely grateful to my parents for allowing me to be in this situation. The property prices down here in the South West are ridiculous to say the least, i would not have been able to buy my house had i been restricted to working in the local area.

I've been back 'home' for 12 months but i have not squandered my money, i have used the opportunity to save and i am well on the way to a decent deposit for another property. Hopefully by the middle of 2010 i will have bought a house with my girlfriend to live in... and finally get away from the apron strings

My sister however is a differant story, she didn't go to uni and she works in a supermarket, before that she was a nursery nurse. I don't think she will ever leave home, this may sound like sibling jealousy. As i mentioned before, the property prices around here mean that few local people can afford to buy and so long as my parents keep allowing her to buy handbags and other 'stuff' she will never have enough money to get a place of her own, buy or rent.

Its almost as if the OP was written for her!

SnowBunny

I think the point is... you can't make a sweeping judgment on a generation. Everyone is different.

We all have different reasons for being where we are.

RobertoMoir

NowWhat wrote: »

I'm astonished at anyone even thinking - never mind saying - that "boys" find it more difficult to accept menial jobs like callcentre work or shop assistant work.

I can vouch for the fact that I myself would also find it "difficult" to accept such menial work - and I'm a woman...

Why should possession of a little something "extra" on your anatomy mean you would find it more difficult? I'm genuinely puzzled - as most of us who are capable of higher-level jobs than that would find it "difficult" to do them - regardless of our sex.

Well this stems back to the fact that the idea of equality in the UK is all about swinging a pendulum one way than the other rather than trying to find true balance. For years it was OK to spout sexist claptrap about women, now its OK to spout sexist claptrap about men. Just look at the change in advertising - women have gone from nearly always being patronised in the kitchen in adverts to being outrageously independant, and men have gone from driving powerful sports cars in an overtly macho way in adverts to being the butt of jokes about how oven cleaners are so simple that even idiotic men can use them.

homehunter

That news item annoyed me. First the govt push for 50% at uni. Then they moan that the funding isn't there for all these students, and there are not enough places for new entrants. No alternatives are offered - apprenticeships, vocational training, learning a trade. What's more, they slash funding for HE and fine unis who took in more students than they should have done - to meet govt targets in the first place!

So there's that side of it. I graduated in 2002 and if I had to do it again, with tutition fees and debt like it is now...well, I wouldn't. But even back then I didn't know what the alternatives were, and you were made to think that if you didn't go to uni then you were somehow substandard, second class. Owning a home now, what I wouldn't give to just be a bit more 'practical'!!

I did not enjoy living back at home after I graduated - I did for a while, and I started a library assistant role (under 10k, no degree needed!) and saved and bided my time for a few months until I could afford to rent a flat with boyfriend. I would still be at home years later if I hadn't been able to share with my OH! So I think it is probably harder for singles to escape the family home and be independent, to an extent.

Not knowing what to do with my degree, I fell into working in academic libraries, and here I am in 2009, with a professional librarian post, a Masters under my belt (3/4 funded by me and OH) and now in our own home as of last month. We had to save really hard of course. We even managed to squeeze in 6 months' travelling before committing to a mortgage! I never, ever saw myself working in libraries and almost thought it was 'beneath me', to quote a phrase used in this thread. But only by giving it a go did I realise where it would lead. Although the current employment climate is appalling, I still think there is scope for graduates to open their minds a little and realise that all jobs can lead to other things, even if it is simply closing a gap on the CV.

poppysarah

50% of young people at uni would only be sensible if 50% of the jobs out there required a degree.

BitterAndTwisted

True, but on the other hand the real value of going into further education and living independently for three years even if not studying particularly hard cannot be quantified purely in terms of potential employment or enhanced future earnings alone. I wish I'd done it now.

before_hollywood

poppysarah wrote: »

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article6969872.ece

“If you are providing free board and lodgings, a well-stocked fridge, washing and ironing done ... there’s not much drive there. So cut back to help increase their motivation.”

Boys find it particularly difficult to accept more menial jobs in call centres or as shop assistants, she added.
Parents can be their own worst enemies by providing their children with an allowance and use of a car into their late 20s, she said.
Allowing them to wait for their dream career as a screenwriter or actor could be a waste, the guide says, and parents should encourage their children to be realistic about their job prospects and salary expectations.




Interesting ideas from a government that's made it increasingly hard for young people to live independently.

menial jobs such as an a call centre or a shop?

charming writer of that article :mad:

then again, i was a team trainer in a supermarket and left to do a better paid job at a call centre.

i never had free rent and i only drove my parents car once, and that was when i was test driving it to see if i wanted to buy it off them