Today's confirmation that the job market is tough (especially for young people), we learn Americans in their late 20s are moving back in with mom and dad at the very high rate of 34 percent. This is according to a new report from Pew Research Center, which identifies several scary measures by which the employment situation for America's young make them cash-strapped. For example, among 18- to 34-year-olds 24 percent have taken unpaid internships for work experience and 35 percent go back to school to get a job. This all translates to 24 percent of Americans in that age bracket moving back in with their parents -- a stat which jumps to 34 percent for the narrower group of 25- to 29-year-olds.
What this means: Despite the giddy market reaction to last week's news that unemployment is down to 8.3 percent, 8.3 percent is still very high, historically. Especially for those under-34 adults, only 54 percent of whom are working according to Pew. Add college loans and entitlement programs like Social Security that transfer wealth from the young to old to young people's woes, and you see why twenty-somethings in 2012 are fleeing back to their childhood bedrooms.
Image via Shutterstock by Anton Gvozdikov.
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