[….]
More people in their 20s are also living with their parents. About one-fourth of 25-year-old white men lived at home in 2007 – before the latest recession – compared with one-fifth in 2000 and less than one-eighth in 1970.”
I pause over the second half of this passage at the words white men. ‘More people’ are characterized by white males in this context – what about everyone else? No other demographic is mentioned to support this trend of living at home after entering adulthood. But if white men are doing it, it’s safe to assume this is a general, national trend of millenials living off their parents’ dime rent-free, right? (Hoping my sarcasm translates to print.)
Johnson and Crosnoe study a very different aspect of the changing nature of modern adolescence – the earlier onset. What starts earlier and for whom? Puberty, problem behaviors, and educational success are named as characterizing factors, particularly for black girls.
These two articles juxtaposed present an interesting dichotomy, one which we would be wise to examine more closely and carefully before generalizing about the national youth community as a whole.