“More schooling has meant that children have to rely on financial support from their parents. Adults between 18 and 34 received an average of $38,000 in cash and two years’ worth of full time labor from their parents, or about 10 percent of their income.” (Cohen, P. (2010, June 11). The long road to adulthood is growing even longer. The New York Times.)
What it means to be an adult today certainly does not carry the same meaning as it did when my mom was growing up. To think that at the age I am currently, 24, my mom was married and pregnant with her first child is pretty crazy to me. I could not imagine being that grown up right now. Granted I am living on my own in New York City, but I am still in school and am not financially independent. But I was able to enroll in graduate school after college because I knew that my mom would be able to help me. I knew I wouldn’t have to be fully grown up quite yet. But my question is, what about students in school who won’t be able to depend on their parents for financial support once out of high school or college? What does this elongation of the road to adulthood, or emerging adulthood, mean for our students who will be forced into adulthood? In school today we like to think the next step for students is college. But how can we advocate college when it is no longer a guarantee that a college diploma will result in a job after graduation? Further, how can we advocate taking out loans to get a college education? I don’t have the answers, but I think The New York Times article is leaving out a vulnerable population of youth who don’t have the option of emerging adulthood. How can we make sure we are preparing all students for the future when, as the article also states, “We have not developed and strengthened institutions to serve young adults”?
I totally agree with me. Thinking of my mom at my current age also got married and had first kid makes me feel amazing. I think I pretty independently, living on my own in college and even going abroad for graduate school in another country without knowing anyone. However, if all of these without my mother’s financial support, I am nothing. Without financial independence, I feel I am still really immature in many ways especially living in a reality society. College diploma is not a guarantee for jobs in the current era, I want to put this way, college diploma is still a guarantee for jobs but depending on what kind of jobs… which it might not required a degree in older times.
Sophia, you ask many great questions. What about students who won’t be able to depend on their parents for financial support? In my opinion, many of these individuals end up accepting job positions that do not necessarily challenge or satisfy them intellectually–the job’s sole purpose is to pay the bills. Additionally, many of these jobs don’t allow for growth of the person, limiting their potential…but what can they do? In regards to your question about the justification for student loans, I think that is another issue altogether. If there was a guarantee that they would be able to pay them back, that is one thing; however, I find many students still opt to take out the loan to pursue their educational goals and wager the possibility of being able to pay it back. All I have to say is, god bless the parents/family member that are able to and do in fact help their children/relatives.