“There has been more of a transition where parents are supporting their adult children for longer,” she said. “The data do show that more young adult men live with their parents than women. The wealth transfer from older generations to younger generations is part of that story.”
And then there are the partners. “Almost everybody you talk to will have a story” about supporting an unemployed man, Ullrich said, adding that what’s changed isn’t the dynamic itself, but the fact that it no longer carries the stigma it once did. The stay-at-home boyfriend, once a punchline, is now a statistically significant labor market phenomenon.
A landmark paper published in the Journal of Political Economy, first circulated through the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that roughly 70% of the hours young men aren’t working are being spent on video games and recreational computer use. The economists calculated that improvements in gaming technology since 2004 alone can explain nearly half the increase in young men’s leisure hours.
“I think that’s part of the story — the basement story,” Ullrich said, in reference to a trope of young men playing video games in their parent’s basement.
The opioid epidemic compounded it, hitting non-college-educated men especially hard. And critically, men, compared to women, largely don’t qualify for government assistance programs like SNAP or TANF without a disability, meaning when they exit the workforce, the financial burden falls on whoever is closest to them.
the basement thing is becoming very common for both men and women, especially since the layoffs and the covid layoffs, a large increase in post about thier adult children staying at home after job loss or graduation. alot more criticism goes to men, because they are expected in america(america born) to be out the house as soon as possible, while women are less likely to recieve the same anomisty for staying at home until they get married off, and become “independant”.
the criticism is the same if both men and women, are at home with no jobs or have a barely part time job, on the internet all the time. its always the siblings/family nagging them to move out in thier 30s, 40s, and beyond even.
POC culture households is different.
this is true for industries like biology, where they far outnumber men with degree, and GRAD degrees. nurses, biotech they have alot of support to get them into it. just not at the PHD level yet, we probably wont see that until maybe 10-20years down the line.