Three Struggles of the Boomerang Generation
“Congratulations you’ve just graduated college, what are you going to do now?!” If you’re anything like me, your response would be “moving home!”
Society calls us the “Boomerang Generation.”
If leaving college wasn’t hard enough, I’ve noticed three struggles most people face when moving home post-graduation.
Student Debt
Student debt is the number one cause of students moving home after college. Due to the amount of student debt we’ve accumulated, it’s hard for young adults to jump into complete financial independence right out of college. Even if we have a job right out of school, it’s hard to fully commit to the financial responsibilities that “adulthood” comes with.
Moving home provides a safety net for us to feel the freedom to save up some money before moving into our own place, especially when a chunk of our paychecks will be devoted to student loans.
According to experian.com, the average debt of a student is $35,359. If a student were to choose a 10-year repayment plan, their monthly student loan payment would be at least $400. This is before rent, insurance, groceries, gas, or any other mandatory bill of life.
No wonder we want to stay at home as long as possible.
Less Independence
After four years of being semi-independent, we come back to living with mom and dad. For some, this can be a better experience than others, but a lot of us end up feeling smothered. Our parents, while having great intentions, might not realize that they have to treat us like adults rather than children.
If you’re like me and moved away for school, mom wasn’t just down the hall overhearing my conversations (even unintentionally), waiting up for me to get home, or making me dinner. This was a great step in me learning how to rely on myself and establish independence.
It was hard enough coming home during breaks to be back under “house rules,” so you can imagine the shift I had when I officially moved home. It’s hard in this stage because you’re a college grad and are looking for full-time work, if you’re not already employed. I have friends who are either fully established in their career/adult routine and friends who are still in college, leaving me to be in this limbo-esque world.
Loneliness
When I left for college, I pressed “CONTROL+ALT+DELETE” on my high school self and the majority of my friendships there. To this day, I only ended up keeping in touch with two of my high school friends. While this was great for me in college and really allowed me to “find myself,” it left me with no one to come home to outside of my family.
Now, I’ve moved home and all of my best friends and community are back at school. Thankfully, technology makes it easier to be connected from large distances, but it’s definitely not the same. Friends aren’t just right down the hall or even down the street. Everyone has a different schedule and is more spread out.
You might understand this feeling and how it’s just like you’re starting from the ground again. This is why it’s so important to find connection!
Connection Helps
We’ve realized that while finding friends as a child might be easy, finding friends as an adult can be a little tricky. I found that I wanted to be surrounded by Christ-followers right off the bat to make my transition easier. When I got plugged in at Chase Oaks Church, I found people my age just looking for connection at the Young Professionals gatherings.