<p>My father was a schoolteacher. He walked or took the bus because he couldn’t afford a car. He bought his first (used) car when he was 37,his first new car at 48.</p>
<p>I bought my first car at 23.</p>
<p>Now kids expect a car at 16 as a right (and a rite) of passage. I would wager that my 18yo D is one of maybe five kids out of 30 some in our small town who doesn’t have a car. And many of these kids have very nice cars (or SUVs or pickups). </p>
<p>So yes, this generation is coddled.</p>
<p>Poppycock. We have lousy, virtually non existent public transportation where we live. With two parents working in different locations at different times, sharing a car would be impossible. And getting the kids to/from their activities, school (the bus stop for our school was over a mile away) was another implausible issue. SO when the kids were old enough (NOT 16 for crikeys sake) they got old hand me down cars from relatives or us. This was simply a necessity.</p>
<p>Yes, anna because you can extrapolate a whole generation based on your one town. </p>
<p>My dad did have a car on his 16th birthday. As did most of the people in his neighborhood. I did not and almost none of my friends did so obviously we’re not the coddled generation :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Also, my experience is similar to jym’s. I did get a car for my 17th birthday from my grandpa (only thing he ever gave me and I’m incredibly grateful) because I was working and we couldn’t share a car. Oh and I bought my first car at 20 because that one got totaled in an ice storm. There’s no transportation between my jobs so I needed a car.</p>
<p>We bought our older daughter a brand new mini when she turned 17 because we had plenty of parking space and it was convenient for us that she could drive. D2 doesn’t have a car and can’t really drive (even though she has a valid license) because there is no need for it where we live, and parking is $500+/month. Same family, same generation, but different experience for kids.</p>
<p>
LOL. When I was in HS in the 70’s, we were all worried about the impending threat of … The Second Ice Age. Our generation saved you from that destruction!</p>
<p>Seriously, look it up. You’ll find that some of the same people were involved.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is still true today, and in fact, the trades can easily yield upper-middle or even upper class incomes. Construction, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, concrete folks - many of these people make far, far more than college-educated professionals in office jobs. Plumbers in particular seem to be able to achieve astronomical incomes.</p>
<p>No, romani, I’m not extrapolating from one small town. I’ve lived in the suburbs and the inner city during my adult life, so I have a reasonably broad experience range to draw from. </p>
<p>The norm today is for kids, at least middle class kids and a fair percentage of less-well-off kids, to get cars at 16. In my generation (your father’s generation) some kids got cars, but most didn’t. In my father’s generation (your grandfather’s), it was very much the exception, except among the wealthy.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Don’t know where you’re getting your data, but according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median hourly pay of plumbers in 2008 was just under $22.</p>
<p><a href=“http://education-portal.com/articles/What_is_a_Master_Plumbers_Average_Base_Salary.html[/url]”>http://education-portal.com/articles/What_is_a_Master_Plumbers_Average_Base_Salary.html</a></p>
<p>That’s hardly “far, far more” than what the college-educated professional in an office job makes. And there’s a lot less upside potential as well. </p>
<p>As for the construction trades, I invite you to check the unemployment rates over the last 5 years or so.</p>
<p>annas, you’re basing it on ONE criteria from ONE person’s experiences. You can hardly generalize any of that to the millions in my generation. And just because things are different doesn’t mean we’re any more spoiled. A generation ago it wasn’t common to have internet accessible almost anywhere in most moderate-large cities in America, does that make everyone coddled? No. It just means things change.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Maybe in the suburbs and rural areas…but not as much in the inner-city…especially NYC unless you’re talking some real tony/far from public transport areas like Bayside, Queens. </p>
<p>Most HS classmates in my latter GenX group not only never received cars on their 16th birthday…many of us also never even bothered to get our drivers license until well into undergrad…or sometimes even later. Too much money, too much time/effort, for little/no real need considering the public transit access. There’s still a few classmates from my graduating HS class who still haven’t gotten their drivers license or only got it within the last year or less.</p>
<p>I haven’t seen any difference with the millenial generation here.</p>
<p>
to quote you, you got a citation for that, AD? Because its your opinion. Nothing more.</p>
<p>Annasdada-
There is absolutely nothing in the data you posted that refutes Mr K’s claim - which was a general statement about earning possibilites. Unless you can point to the official numerical definition of the words “many” and “far far more”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>sure, but my generation is the one paying for healthcare for old people that won’t be paid for when we are that age. And paying 12% of every single paycheck for social security that won’t be there for us either. My generation is the generation that will be paying for the $1 trillion annual deficits that this country is running year after year (both parties are to blame). My generation is the one that will be feeling the crunch because the generations before us didn’t make the decisions that needed to be made. Instead, they kept borrowing on the backs of the future. Well, eventually, someone will have to pay that money back, and it won’t be the people that are already dead, it will be my generation. For most of the 20th century, the previous generation left their kids better off than they were. That is no longer the case.</p>
<p>sg hit the nail on the head with that one.</p>
<p>And many of us are kind of bitter about it. At least those of us paying attention.</p>
<p>annasdad - All that I can say is that I know only three plumbers, and they are all seriously wealthy people. In the five job categories that I listed, I know multiple individuals in each who were able to retire easily in their forties. Not that they all did, some of them enjoy collecting lots of houses and ever-larger boats.</p>
<p>It’s pure mythology that the trades can’t produce a very comfortable lifestyle - pure mythology. I know so many guys in the trades that are simply crushing it, that I sometimes wonder why the hell I ever went to college. </p>
<p>I forgot to mention pipe-fitters and welders - know a few of those guys who are quite well off as well.</p>
<p>AFAIK trillion dollar deficits just started happening. This is not something that has happened year over year in the past. If you are a young adult of voting age they are happening now. Its now happening on your watch as well. If everyone’s so annoyed with the world they were left with I suggest they get off the internet and cell phones which were developed by those generations.</p>
<p>I hate to post this stuff about plumbers, because whenever I do, there’s some lady here who chimes in that her husband or brother or someone is a plumber, and that he’s not doing very well. I can’t remember who it is, but it makes me feel bad, because that guy is just doing it wrong.</p>
<p>Apologies in advance, but a good plumber prints money. Sorry.</p>
<p>MOST plumbers are not making good money. </p>
<p>Plumbers who own their own business and MASTER plumbers make DECENT income. </p>
<p>MisterK, that would be me. I don’t have a husband or brother. I grew up around those in trades. The MAJORITY do not make great money. Most make a livable income but nothing cushy. Those who own their own businesses, yes. Most do not. </p>
<p>But whatever. Believe whatever you want. Because obviously your three plumbers are representative of all of those in the trades. Let it negate statistics like this: <a href=“http://www1.salary.com/Plumber-I-Salary.html[/url]”>http://www1.salary.com/Plumber-I-Salary.html</a>
<a href=“http://www1.salary.com/Plumber-III-salary.html[/url]”>http://www1.salary.com/Plumber-III-salary.html</a></p>
<p>Unless of course 50k is “seriously wealthy”.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I am too lazy to hunt down cites, but recent trends in California at least (perhaps nationwide) show that far fewer teens are getting their drivers licenses at age 16 than was the case for previous generations. Part of the reason is California’s stricter rules for licensing new drivers under age 18; in addition to 10 hours of professional behind-the-wheel driver’s training, teen drivers must also have an additional 50 hours of behind the wheel experience. There’s also the economy; insuring teen drivers is expensive, gas is expensive. But the articles I’ve read say that a huge factor is that many teens are just not that interested in getting their licenses. They’re happy being driven around by their parents or friends who already have licenses. It’s just too much bother. They’ll wait until they get older. </p>
<p>So it doesn’t surprise me that at least in our area I don’t see most 16 year olds getting cars. It’s not the norm at all. Your mileage (haha!) may, of course, vary. :)</p>
<p>I guess we must be serious losers as parents, because our kids (18 and 21) don’t have cars. They always drove whatever the most beat up family car was. Most of their friends are in the same boat, though many of their parents are the beleaguered one percenters. Maybe it’s a regional thing, but I sure don’t see every kid (any kid) getting a car at 16.</p>
<p>I got my first car at 21, right before going off to be an officer in the USAF. Brand new, shiny black RX7. What a great car. Of course, I paid for it myself, on credit.</p>