“Boomerang kids.” It’s a new term created to describe a student who leaves home to go off to college, receives a degree and then comes a knockin’ on their parents’ door.
According to a poll by collegegrad.com, about 80 percent of graduates in 2009 returned to their parents’ houses.
Prior to the economic nosedive that the U.S. is experiencing, I would have called these people unmotivated, but now I just call them practical.
With the scarcity of jobs, increased rent, and overall economic depression, students who cannot find a full-time job after college look to their parents’ home as a pit stop until they can get on their feet.
As my graduation date looms ominously closer, reality is setting in that I will be tossed out into the California job market that has about a 12 percent unemployment rate.
While I never considered going back home after graduation, it now seems like a sensible fallback.
Reason # 1: It will allow you to find your dream job.
Moving home allows you time to actively search for your ideal job without having the pressure of finances breathing down your neck. Graduates won’t feel the need to settle for a cubicle job when they aspired to be an advertising agent throughout college.
Reason # 2: You can save some cash.
Rent is expensive. Most parents will offer their home to their children for little or no cost. That’s about $700 that you are saving each month. With a day job, you could save up enough within a year to move into your own place without debt.
Reason # 3: It allows for a gradual transition from happy-go-lucky college student to responsible adult.
Let’s face it, when most people graduate from college, they are not in real-world mode. It’s not like the second you grab your diploma, you immediately acquire all the knowledge, life experience and maturity to be successful in the real world.
Having a gradual transition allows graduates to take time to find themselves and carefully decide what direction they want to take in life instead of making an impulsive decision straight out of college.
Reason # 4: It shows you are serious about your career.
Many college students who move back home after college will be sacrificing an exciting social scene. Instead of moving to a bustling new city and getting an apartment conveniently located steps from downtown, your social life could be reduced to movie nights with your parents.
That shows dedication.
Note: Watching T.V., playing video games and eating all your parents’ food in hopes that a job will find you is a not part of the deal. This only applies to graduates who are actively looking for a job.