Home News More Grownups relying on their Parents to Get By

More Grownups relying on their Parents to Get By

by Biashara Kenya

Society of Grownups, a financial advice firm in the US, has conducted a survey that answers how grownups are planning financially for their goals today.

The great revelation from the survey was that a good number of grownups (representing 35% of those polled)  still depend on their parents for upkeep beyond college.

While the survey was targeted at Americans, the results seem to reflect on the financial trends witnessed among young growups in developed and developing nations across the world.

According to the research which was conducted in partnership with Wakefield Research, most of grownups are seen to be going back to school, getting married, planning to pay off student debt, and they eventually want to buy houses and consider having kids. And those are in addition to other big goals, like taking a trip, pursuing freelance work, and purchasing a car.

In Kenya, like the world over, most parents especially those who are financially stable are seen to play a major role in the lives of their children beyond basic education. Paying for higher education and even expensive weddings for their children is not uncommon.

The research explains this trend as a necessary evil that is a as result of the Great Recession. Even grownups with families are also dipping into the pockets of their parents which means that the arrangement can last for decades. Companies such as Society of Grownups, based on the research are willing to provide education and tools to help individuals become independent.

The good news is that this group is willing to pay it forward, to the benefit of younger generations.

In case you are wondering about the classification of generations, the following table is precise-:

 

generation name

born (range, loosely)

characterizing features typically described (loosely)

The Lost Generation 1880-1900 The term reflects the unthinkable loss of human life in the First World War- approaching 16 million killed and over 20 million wounded. This happened in just four and five years (1914-1918). We cannot imagine this today.
The Interbellum Generation 1900-1913 Interbellum means ‘between wars’, referring to the fact that these people were too young to fight in the First World War and too old to fight in the Second.
The Greatest Generation (The Veterans) 1914-1930 These people are revered for having grown up during the Great Depression and then fought or stood alongside those who fought in the Second World War (1939-45). As for other generations of the early 1900s, life was truly hard compared to later times.
The Silent Generation 1930-1945 Characterized as fatalistic, accepting, having modest career and family aspirations, focused on security and safety. These people experienced the 1930s Great Depression and/or the 2nd World War in early life, and post-war austerity in young adulthood. They parented and provided a foundation for the easier lives of the Baby Boomers.
Baby Boomers 1946-1960 Equality, freedom, civil rights, environmental concern, peace, optimism, challenge to authority, protest. Baby Boomers mostly lived safe from war and serious hardship; grew up mostly in families, and enjoyed economic prosperity more often than not. Teenage/young adulthood years 1960-1980 – fashion and music: fun, happy, cheery, sexy, colourful, lively.
Generation Jones 1953-1968 Acquisitive, ambitious, achievement-oriented, cynical, materialistic (a reference to the expression ‘keeping up with the Joneses’). Generation Jones is predominantly a US concept, overlapping and representing a sub-group within the Baby Boomer and Gen-X generations.
Generation X (Gen-X) 1960-1980 Apathy, anarchy, reactionism, detachment, technophile, resentful, nomadic, struggling. Teenage/young adulthood years 1973-2000 – fashion and music: anarchic, bold, anti-establishment.
MTV Generation 1974-1983 MTV Generation is a lesser-used term for a group overlapping X and Y. Like Generation Jones is to Baby Boomers and Gen-X, so MTV Generation is a bridge between Gen-X and Y.
Generation Y
(Gen-Y or Millennials)
1980-2000 and beyond (?) Views vary as to when this range ends, basically because no-one knows. Generational categories tend to become established some years after the birth range has ended. Teenage/young adulthood years 1990s and the noughties – fashion and music: mainstream rather than niche, swarmingly popular effects, fuelled by social networking and referral technology. Also called Echo Boomers because this generation is of similar size to the Baby Boomers.
Generation Z (Gen-Z or perhaps Generation ADD) after Gen-Y Too soon to say much about this group. A name has yet to become established, let alone characterizing features. Generation Z is a logical name in the X-Y-sequence. Generation ADD is less likely to establish itself as a name for this cohort – it refers ironically to Attention Deficit Disorder and the supposed inability of young people in the late noughties (say 2005-2009) to be able to concentrate for longer than a few seconds on anything. Gen-Z is difficult to differentiate from Gen-Y, mainly because (as at 2009) it’s a little too soon to be seeing how people born after Gen-Y are actually behaving, unless the end of the Gen-Y range is deemed to be a few years earlier than the year 2000. Time will tell.

Source: Generations nicknames and groupings theory (businessballs.com)

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.