The
truth of the matter is that one out of three college graduates move home after graduation, at least for a brief period of time. The reasons may very slightly, but with the huge growth in student debt it is not hard to understand why the number of students moving back home grows every year.

It is time to change people’s minds about moving home after graduation.

What people need to realize is that economic recession creates larger households, as the financial downturn hits young adults especially hard. Moving home has already become a social norm, it became a norm before the economic crash and has since become a vastly growing trend.

Never the less, “such ‘boomerang kids’ have acquired a reputation as lazy slackers. A lot of parents say, ‘Gosh, when I was 23 ...’ and note that they were already set on their career paths and even had children. They look at their children, and see them nowhere near that, and they feel like their children are not making it. But that’s not true. Young adults today typically change jobs seven times before age 30 — yes, often quitting ones their parents find perfectly good. And with the average age of marriage continuing to rise, a life partner may still be nowhere in sight.

There is a great deal of comfort for parents just in learning that this scenario is perfectly normal. Thirty really is the new twenty.”

And when states are spending more money on inmates than on students, moving home seems like a far better decision then living in poverty or even being in jail. This may seem like a stretch but without a higher education many students say they would turn to illegal businesses to make money. Yet despite all of this, moving home is still viewed negatively by students, parents, and society alike.

Although the situation at home may seem less then perfect there are perks to living at home, and while your old bedroom isn’t the dream apartment overlooking Central Park with all of your friends as neighbors like a glorified dorm hall, it is a great place to start.

Most see moving home as a temporary situation that can be mutually beneficial for parents and kids alike, as nine out of ten recent graduates say they help with household expenses in some way.

For these reasons and many more we have created The Boomerang Generation’s Guide To Survival. This guide aims to help the recent grad work through the difficulties of living at home, while highlighting all of the good. Emphasizing that moving home is not a bad decision. It does not make recent graduates weak or incapable. It shows that they know the smartest thing to do is accept the help that is being offered.

This guide will provide tips on what to do if your parents forget that you are twenty two-ish years old, how to help out more around the house, what to expect and how to enjoy your stay at home. This guide is meant to help the reader appreciate the time spent back home.

When is the perfect moment to tell your date that if they come home with you there is a chance they might meet your mom? Well it’s not in the morning while Mom makes your date toast. It’s better to let them know before you get to the “going home” stage of the night, but definitely don’t make it one of your leading conversation topics either. It’s best to toss it in the middle of the date so you have time to redeem yourself, since they most likely will feel obligated to at least stay through dinner.

DO:
1| Come clean about living at home.
2| Give the short story of why you moved home.
3| Make it seem like you have a game plan to move out.
DON’T:
1| Use the your living situation to rack up pity points.
2| Go on and on about how unfair your life is.
3| Don’t let you date think you will live at home forever.

P.P.O.V.
"We understand you're going to go on dates, but we don’t want to meet each of your new love interests."

Now that you don’t pay rent anymore you should have a good amount of money each month to put into your savings account. While you will have the urge to spend this cash, try and withstand these feelings. In the long run you will be happier when your able to move out earlier. If you really cant help to spending some of that money building up in your account, help out your family with month expenses instead of buying that new thingamabobber you wont have any use for by the next month.

DO:
1| Save as much as possible.
2| Help your family with monthly expenses.
3| Try and make some good investments.
DON’T:
1| Spend all of the extra cash.
2| Bank roll your friends start up.
3| Make risky stock investments.

Now that you don’t have to buy your own groceries you may have an excess of pocket change. There are many ways in which you would spend that money, some better then others, but however you spend it make sure to enjoy.

DO:
1| Give some to your parents since they are now buying your groceries.
2| Buy something nice for your parents now and then.
3| Save most of it.
DON’T:
1| Blow all of it on useless things you don’t need.
2| Go out to dinner every night with it, home cooked meals are better anyway.
3| Hide it form your parents.

P.P.O.V.

“It’s nice when you pick up the groceries for us all.”