Have College Freshmen Changed?

younghoss
Tue, 12 Oct 2010 15:31:36 +0000

My own interpretation of longhaul’s post 9, but what is described sounds to me (mostly)like standard of living rather than what I’d call economics. It’s not just having enough money or not. It’s about having a good enough lifestyle on their own as an adult compared to what they have with mommy and daddy.

The “kid” that is a college grad in Longhaul’s example might be choosing to come to parents’ home rather than fully becoming an adult so he can save up to have a better standard of living when the day comes that he moves out and fully becomes an adult.
That is different than simply not being able to afford that first apartment.
Here again, I’m not saying good/bad for others, only saying some college grads and their parents now prefer to give the child more help, even beyond the college graduation, than in yrs past, so that when the child fully becomes an adult (at 25? 30?) he instantly starts out better. Some see that as a better plan. Others see preparing the child for adulthood, and young adult learning experiences sooner is a better plan.