Bank of mum and dad

[cyberknight]

And with many people working on zero hours contracts, one of the key ways that employers let them know about shifts is via text...

Surely if they want to use texts to keep in contact then they should pay something towards the bill , not everyone is on a contract and dont phone/text willy nilly . im with @Drago .
exit grandad pedant mode ...

 

[Racing roadkill]

I moved out when I was 12. By the age of 16 I had a 5 bedroom detached house with a swimming pool paid for with my paper round money. I bought my first Ferrari when I was 17, I stuck some L plates on it and went and did my driving test in it. I've now got a portfolio of massive houses in Britain and Afghanistan. Kids living at home 'till they're 30? Pah, they need to read rule #5.

 

[Dan B]

Surely if they want to use texts to keep in contact then they should pay something towards the bill , not everyone is on a contract and dont phone/text willy nilly . im with @Drago .
exit grandad pedant mode ...

Yeah, I can see that really going down well, asking your employer for help with your phone bill. Either it's a low-status low salary job in which case you'll be out on your ear in favour of someone who does have the necessary "fripperies", or it's a professional career-type job in which case asking for financial help buying a phone is a bit like asking for financial help to buy a smart shirt and a pair of trousers

 

[User482]

Well I've read the thread, and I can't see a single instance of anyone taking any pleasure in young people finding life difficult! I just feel that giving them a free ride is actually making things even more difficult for them in the long run, when they might need to survive without free lodging, free meals, free laundry service, and free lifts to anywhere they need to go (including parents actually taking days off work to ferry them to interviews ...). Why not take some rent off them and stash it away without telling them, so that there's a lump sum for a deposit or a bailout when they eventually need one?

You're talking about a specific issue - free lodging - whereas I am talking in more general terms about the challenges faced by young people today. It seems to be almost unrecognised by some of those who are eager to tell us about how well they did for themselves after leaving home at a young age.

Your earlier post was interesting - I've had similar experiences (grotty but fun house shares) but who's to say that my Italian neighbours (parents, children & grandchildren all in the same house) have got it wrong?

 

[marinyork]

Surely if they want to use texts to keep in contact then they should pay something towards the bill , not everyone is on a contract and dont phone/text willy nilly . im with @Drago .
exit grandad pedant mode ...

Possibly, but the whole point of these jobs is to cut costs and push costs/risks onto the worker or self employed person while the company takes many of the benefits of the arrangement.

 

[Flying Dodo]

It's a difficult one. There's a number of factors which have completely altered people's attitudes, compared with the situation up to the 1980s or so.

Due to soaring house prices, the concept of affordability has gone out of the window, and as mentioned above, many people expect to have as a right, things like a decent phone, Sky subscription, fancy car etc etc, basically because of the way our consumerist society pushes unsustainable expectations onto people.

I didn't have any help from my parents when I bought my first house nearly 30 years ago, but I realise it's not viable for my children. I know I'm now in a privileged position compared to my parents, so I don't have a problem with giving my children money to help purchase a property. After all, it might as well be of use now, rather than when they inherit it in (hopefully) 40+ years.

However it was only done on the basis of saying I'd match whatever they'd saved in order to encourage them to save long term. I did however gift my daughter far more out of the blue to help her actually get their flat, and I'll do the same for my son, when he eventually moves out, which will have to be within the next year, as I'm selling the house!

 

[Julia9054]

Rubbish. Few people even had them before the late nineties.

The world has moved on massively since then. My son is a freelance musician. Much of his work is obtained via social media.
My other son is a student and earns money in the holidays working for a local cleaning company that does events. If he is not on the end of his phone, they don't leave a message, they just ring the next person on the list.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I'm a full time carer and survive weeks without even switching mine on, and even then only when i'm on call for SAR. How many of these young adults can say they're category 2 responders and it's therefore "essential" to have one?

 

[fossyant]

I have two friends that are still at home in their mid 40s. That's weird.

We bought our first home at 25. Would have gone earlier but the house was still being built. I'll be mortgage free in just over a year. Didn't get any hand outs from parents.

My nephew is still at home but is on a cushy number as he just likes to work a few months a year at a big cricket ground, then bum about all winter. His sister has managed to leave and rent somewhere with baby and boyfriend (after taking the mickey at home by mobing in boyfriend and running up massive electric bills for her mum and not contributing financially or in chores).

 

[MarkF]

My eldest lad is the first one to leave, he is going next Wednesday and at nearly 23 I think it is about time. He is joining a circus.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

And with many people working on zero hours contracts, one of the key ways that employers let them know about shifts is via text...

Exactly, that would be me then
In this instance @Drago is out with the times, while @User is right
I need not only a phone for my shifts, but now it has to be a smart phone with internet access, as some of my employers put shifts on Facebook.
Granted, an Iphone is not necessary, but at minimum, in today's modern world of work, an internet connection, preferably mobile, is indispensable.
Apart from shifts on zero hours contracts, you cannot apply for jobs without email.
Regarding the thread topic, I come from abroad, our culture is the parents support their kids for as long as it is necessary in exchange for being taken care of in their old age.

 

[slowmotion]

Rent around the London area is very expensive. A one bed flat will set you back about £1200 pcm.

My twenty two year old daughter (who lives at home) has plenty of friends who flat-share in groups of four or five in fairly inner London for £600-£800 pounds per month. That's an eye-watering sum to me but they earn enough to get by, and they don't all work as lawyers or bankers.
We don't ask Ms slowmotion for rent and utility bills because we enjoy her company and that of her friends. We certainly don't buy her toys though. Despite the security, she's still quite keen to leave the nest, a desire that I quite understand.

 

[JoshM]

I don't think older people have much idea of how tricky it is to start out now. I'm 32, and when I went to uni fees were set at £3,000 a term. You could also get what was essentially an interest loan to help cover living expenses. I've been paying mine back directly from my wages for 7 years and still have over £10,000 of student debt. Students now pay up to £9,000 a term, and their living expenses loan is charged at commercial interest rates. I've no idea how someone who doesn't have wealthy parents can afford to go to uni these days. I doubt I could afford to do it now.You don't seem to have a huge amount of choice though. All kinds of jobs which my class mates could have accessed with a reasonable secondary education record require some kind of further education these days. You won't get an apprenticeship without going to college, you can't get a job as a carer or nursery nurse without having the right SVQs etc. I realise they're not university level qualifications but they do require accessing paid education.

Not doing so leaves you minimum wage jobs. I live in Fife, which is hardly expensive (unless you live in St Andrews). My rent is £400 pcm, council tax is £100, and energy £60. A quick Google suggests those on the minimum wage take home £960 a month, leaving £400 a month for everything else. You're hardly living the high life on that, im not sure how you then save the £7,000 - £11,300 you'd need forca 10% deposit in this area on that.

As others have said, access to a mobile and the internet are considered essential these days. My employer only accepts applications by email, and only sends out any overtime by text message. Without both internet access and a mobile I couldn't have applied for my job, and I couldn't get overtime. And thats not considering your credit rating. Credit agencies expect you have a credit record these days, and not having taken any credit is a hinderence. I was actually advised to take out a phone contract and a credit card to build by credit rating if I wanted to buy. Seems such things are 'essential' these days if you wish to own.

 

[marinyork]

The student loan stuff is very scary JoshM. One of the people I went to college with did a degree before going to college and she paid off her original student loan after 19 years. All right so the extra studying may have hindered paying it off a bit but she has actually worked continually through that time and I think only had 2 holidays, has a clapped out car and a so called professional job.

You are bang on the money on credentialisation at colleges I went to one myself. A lot of cuts and changes the last decade.

Despite some of the grumpier members of SCP having joked about it I see more and more people with two degrees in entry level jobs.

 

[MarkF]

I don't think older people have much idea of how tricky it is to start out now. I'm 32, and when I went to uni fees were set at £3,000 a term. You could also get what was essentially an interest loan to help cover living expenses. I've been paying mine back directly from my wages for 7 years and still have over £10,000 of student debt. Students now pay up to £9,000 a term, and their living expenses loan is charged at commercial interest rates. I've no idea how someone who doesn't have wealthy parents can afford to go to uni these days. I doubt I could afford to do it now.You don't seem to have a huge amount of choice though. All kinds of jobs which my class mates could have accessed with a reasonable secondary education record require some kind of further education these days. You won't get an apprenticeship without going to college, you can't get a job as a carer or nursery nurse without having the right SVQs etc. I realise they're not university level qualifications but they do require accessing paid education.

Not doing so leaves you minimum wage jobs. I live in Fife, which is hardly expensive (unless you live in St Andrews). My rent is £400 pcm, council tax is £100, and energy £60. A quick Google suggests those on the minimum wage take home £960 a month, leaving £400 a month for everything else. You're hardly living the high life on that, im not sure how you then save the £7,000 - £11,300 you'd need forca 10% deposit in this area on that.

As others have said, access to a mobile and the internet are considered essential these days. My employer only accepts applications by email, and only sends out any overtime by text message. Without both internet access and a mobile I couldn't have applied for my job, and I couldn't get overtime. And thats not considering your credit rating. Credit agencies expect you have a credit record these days, and not having taken any credit is a hinderence. I was actually advised to take out a phone contract and a credit card to build by credit rating if I wanted to buy. Seems such things are 'essential' these days if you wish to own.

I am glad my lad has joined circus, ok he has given me hell at times but he is free thinker and just will not do a 9-5 grind. A few of his uni friends that I talk to have no intention of paying back their loans, they are doing and have done "business management" and such like and don't expect to earn a decent wage.....

Youngest son is 18 and wants to leave soon, it'll be flat share or uni, but he is earning £15ph full time sports coaching (He has college and FA qualifications) and is wavering about what to do, carry on, or degree + debt.