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Are Momma's Boys to Blame for the Euro Crisis?
 

Addinator's picture
ST
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 4:30pm

Noting the confluence of topics about the baby boomer generation and financial woes of our youth today, I had this nifty chart sent to me today. Many of you may have seen it but it is interesting nonetheless. Basically, this is a chart comparing the CDS’s of European countries against the percentage of males living at home.

Many online blogs and advice sites seem to have a common message which says to not move back home no matter what. There is something to be gained by putting it out there and having to scrape by on your own for a few years while you find solid footing. I’ve even seen articles which point to employers preferring candidates who don’t live at home because they are out on the edge and don’t have the safety net that living at home provides.

Obviously, correlation doesn’t equal causation but I think it raises a decent question. Does living at home create more complacent men who are less ready to strike out into the world? I’ve always struggled to find an opinion on this as I think that moving home can certainly be beneficial until you get a decent job (or during an unpaid internship) but there is a lot to be said for having to strike out on your own and support yourself. What do you guys think? Obviously living at home for a 26 year old man isn’t desirable but is it really as terrible as it is made out to be? Is it contributing to the current financial malaise?

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Comments

Rambo's picture

Great post. Although I think

(Baboon, 150
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 4:56pm

Great post. Although I think it depends on the culture. In certain cultures, kids live with their parents until they get married. In those countries, the % of men living with parents is probably a lot higher, but doesn't mean their economy is down the toilet.

The Man's picture

Not only does correlation not

(Monkey, 44
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 5:08pm

Not only does correlation not equal causation, it may even be misleading. I have a hard time seeing housing arrangements across vastly different cultures having a similar negative effect on output. Now, as for this chart, what do you suppose is the correlation for anyone, male or female, between living at home and being unemployed? And then look at unemployment in the countries listed in the chart. I think that wraps up this question, and then we are back to the same old question of how to boost economic activity.

Dying&#039;s For Fools's picture

Interesting chart. This could

O
(Gorilla, 529
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 5:09pm

Interesting chart. This could be a chicken-or-the-egg scenario though. It could simply be that young men are getting crushed in the job market and moving back home.

Does moving back in with your parents sap your motiviation? Fuck yes. I've got friends that stayed at home after graduating high school and it's always the same story. They fucked around for a semester in community college before dropping out, work a dead end job and spend all day playing video games. It's hard to break out of this.

I actually stayed at home and went to CC as well, but stuck with it until I got my Associate Degree and transferred, but I'd say that I was in the minority compared to my peers.

"Well make more fuckin' money. This is America. You don't make money, then you're a fuckin' douchebag." - Mr. French

RGE's picture

Withstanding what Rambo said,

IB
(Orangutan, 315
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 5:10pm

Withstanding what Rambo said, I think men and WOMEN (where is the chart for them) living at home is the result of the current lack of jobs --or a skills mismatch to get current jobs, lack of marriage and affordability of housing. Basically the kids are living with their parent to reduce expenses and proper mate selection is so hard. Kids living at home can contribute to the current economic condition by slowing down household formation which negatively impacts the residential real estate markets.

Fredbird's picture

40-60% still living with

(Baboon, 129
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 5:12pm

40-60% still living with their parents in Portugal, Italy, Spain and Greece? I mean.... seriously?

RagnarDanneskjold's picture

This is pretty bad. However,

HF
(King Kong, 1,031
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 5:16pm

This is pretty bad. However, I agree with above, this is a chicken/egg thing. They just are trying to sensationalize it. 5 yr CDS vs. male unemployment doesn't make it to the headlines.

Boreed's picture

I'm 42 and live at home, but

PE
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 5:32pm

I'm 42 and live at home, but I have no idea what a CDS is.

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Maximus Decimus Meridius's picture

Fredbird: 40-60% still living

ST
(Gorilla, 631
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 5:39pm
Fredbird:

40-60% still living with their parents in Portugal, Italy, Spain and Greece? I mean.... seriously?

Like someone said above, in this countries people live their parents until they get married or move in with a girl. And that's not 90% because there are many men who work/study in other cities/countries. It's a very different culture than that of the U.S. and I guess it's hard to understand for you guys, but we think the same about you lol.

melvvvar's picture

waiting for ANT to come on

(King Kong, 1,693
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 5:42pm

waiting for ANT to come on and rage against lazy eurosocialist limpdicks.

just waiting.

tangent style's picture

I agree with "the man,"

(Baboon, 142
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 7:13pm

I agree with "the man," correlation is not causation.

I would also add housing problems to the list of possible confounding variables for this chart.

Still, it's interesting

"Do not go gentle into that good night"

futurectdoc's picture

You live with your parents

IB
(King Kong, 1,675
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 7:22pm

You live with your parents when you can't afford to move out, fewer people can afford to move out when the economy blows, when the economy blows governments have decreased revenues/increased spending both in proportional to GDP and absolute terms, when that happens CDS spreads blow out. I bet you could create one that shows the amount of unemployment above structural unemployment and it would show you the same thing.

TWinthrop44's picture

I don't disagree with the

ER
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 9:04pm

I don't disagree with the whole chicken/egg issue and that a lot of this is likely caused by poor economic opportunities in those countries, but I also believe that living with your parents during the time you're supposed to be entering adulthood and beginning to care for yourself will have negative repercussions going forward.

Personally, I lived away from home since the time I entered college. Did a lot of stupid drunk shit and poor choices occur? Definitely. But it also forced me to manage expenses, function independently, and deal with truly bad situations that just aren't likely to occur while living under a solid middle-class roof. By the time I graduated and joined the real world, I was easily able to care for myself.

Human cultures have always had times and traditions to mark the transition into manhood, and that seems to be something that's getting more confused in modern society. I have to imagine that it will be a difficult transition for one of these guys to move from lying on mom's couch to holding down a job, obtaining & maintaining for a home, and caring for a family when it's time for that. That's a change that should be done over time, so you can make up for mistakes as you learn... if people are starting that process at 30, I just see a lot of long term developmental issues for the culture at issue (10 years from now, even if you wiped Greece's debt clean, what percentage of the working age population will actually have experience working full time? Hard to have any kind of productive, stable economy with that)...

wotingyu's picture

Correlation does not equal

O
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 9:37pm

Correlation does not equal causation as you acknowledged in your OP.

I live in China where a large number of college graduates continue to live at home despite gainful employment. My understanding is that here it is a combination of culture (young married couples will often have a parent or parents move in to their new homes as well) and practical cost cutting due to prohibitive wage:rent ratios. I don't know an absolute percentage, but in my dating follies I've come across a lot of girls who live with their parents and hold jobs concurrently.

Back in 2004, in economically rosier times, I spent a week with a French family in Antibes and their son (mid 20s) lived at home while working.The dad was predictably a postal worker with few responsibilities outside of smoking cigarettes in his underwear.

Forgive the anecdotal evidence...

GMngmt's picture

Obviously, correlation

O
 
Points)
 on 5/24/12 at 11:40am

Obviously, correlation doesn’t equal causation..."

I am delighted to see that you put this in your article. I just want to add that a graph like this can be completely spurious. One can draw a relationship between two independent series that have no correlation to each other based on chance. Here, both variables show similar patterns and the correlation is implying a completely unrelated cause-and-effect relationship…sharp analysis.

Who Am I? | See what GMngmt is all about at About.Me

TonyPerkis's picture

Its pretty normal over here

AM
(King Kong, 1,575
 
Points)
 on 5/24/12 at 11:56am

Its pretty normal over here for people to live with their parents til late 20s

I eat success for breakfast...with skim milk

filenotfound's picture

Also this:

(Chimp, 14
 
Points)
 on 5/25/12 at 2:53am
fund's picture

I live at my parents home and

 
Points)
 on 5/28/12 at 5:23pm
tangent style's picture

fund: Living alone = success

(Baboon, 142
 
Points)
 on 5/28/12 at 5:26pm

"Do not go gentle into that good night"

Aimez's picture

fund: Plus believe me, i

CO
(Orangutan, 291
 
Points)
 on 5/28/12 at 10:50pm
melvvvar's picture

fund: I live at my parents

(King Kong, 1,693
 
Points)
 on 5/28/12 at 10:53pm
TonyPerkis's picture

melvvvar: fund: I live at

AM
(King Kong, 1,575
 
Points)
 on 6/1/12 at 2:34pm

I eat success for breakfast...with skim milk

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