Meet the 3 families of “The Nest”
Back in March, we told you about a producer looking for families with adult children living at home for a TV show he was shooting in Sydney, Australia. Over 300 families, applied, but the three who will be featured have now been chosen
- Paul and Jenny Wilkinson, who share their home with four adult children aged 20-27, plus their son Aaron’s live-in girlfriend.
- Chris and Kerri Curran, who have two of their three children still living at home.
- Oscar and Marta Troche, who adult daughter Anielka, 25, is in no hurry to move out.
The Nest airs on Australian TV station SBS on June 28.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Welcome to extended adolescence
We recently attended a conference where Max Valiquette, President and CEO of youthography.com was a keynote speaker. He shared some interesting insights about a new trend he calls “extended adolescence.”
If your adult children are still living at home (or have boomeranged home again) you already know that adolescence (that state of almost-adulthood) is lasting longer than ever before. For example:
- in larger cities, 54-59% of 20-29-year-olds live at home
- the average age to graduate from university is now 25 (20 years ago it was 23)
- the average age of first marriage is 28 (20 years ago it was 25)
- the average age to give birth to your first child is 29 (20 years ago it was 26)
What’s also interesting is that kid are entering adolescence earlier than ever before:
- the average kid is put into their first organized educational “classroom” before age 4
- the average kid tries their first cigarette by age 13
- kids now have to make decisions about what courses to take in high school that can profoundly affect the direction their lives will take (starting as early as age 14)
Fifty years ago, adolescence as a concept didn’t exist. You were a child, then you were adult. Now, we have this extended concept of adolescence that lasts for 10, 20, even up to 30 years. How is this changing the way you relate to your kids — and how they view your responsibilities towards them?
Are you helping your children… or stifling their independence?
Just because your adult children are living at home, that doesn’t mean you need to continue to support them in the same way you did when they were kids. As we discuss in our book, providing too much financial support for your grown children can hold them back from establishing their own careers and developing sound financial management skills.
This article, based on the book “Does Your Bag Have Holes” by Cameron C. Taylor, uses simple stories to illustrate why letting your children find their own wings can be the best thing you ever do for them.