In America, now, almost 20% of young men from the ages of 25-34 live with their parents. In England, 25% of young men from 25-29 live with their parents. This is higher than the percentages of young women living at home in both countries.
Most pundits blame the economy is both nations, and one can say that is a factor, but that is not the main factor.
Disclaimer, my son left home at the age of 22. This should be normal. I left home at just over 23, and there was a shortage of good jobs in the early 1970s in certain areas as the baby-boomers left college and university. Still, we singles managed and without any government help.
One difference is that now parents allow this dependency and do not fight it. Parents have given up their parental authority. There is work, if one wants to do manual labor or take low-paying jobs. I know this. But, I have been told by some young people that they will not clean, do road work, work in factories, etc, which their dads and even grandads did . These young men do not want to get their hands dirty. They do not want to join the Army, Navy, or Marines. These young men do not want to suffer. They only want happy thoughts.
A second issue is more serious. The young men do not want to grow up. They simply do not want to take on responsibility for a house, a wife, children, themselves. They want the full fridge, the large screen tv, the social life of going out, the new clothes. We budgeted. I think this word has been forgotten. We paid cash in the days before the crazy use of credit, which really did not start until the 1980s where I lived. If one did not have the cash, one did not go out, or buy clothes, or drink, whatever.
I consider this desire to remain a Peter Pan the main reason for young men staying at home. There are other opportunities, which these “boys” are not considering. They can emigrate. One of my friends' sons who is 26 went to Australia, and is making excellent money in electrical engineering. He claims there are many jobs for men who want to work in building, contracting, plumbing, electrical work, etc. Many of our ancestors went to America for jobs and careers. What happened to the old pioneer spirit? I blame parents for coddling their kids and for being selfish. When a mom does not let go of her son, or her daughter-in-law and grandchildren, she is selfish. Here in Ireland, there are many Polish youth working in menial jobs, while there are Irish boys walking around doing nothing. What has happened to the work ethic?
It was hard to let go of my son, but he is a man. I am proud of him. He is doing what he should be doing, following his role in society, taking responsibility for his finances, his future. He thinks of me and others, and not merely of himself. We do not live in the same country. This is sometimes what men have to do to be men-go where they will thrive.
This is normal behavior. The Peter Pan syndrome is sick and ruining both America and England. And, as a woman, I say, who wants to even date Peter Pan? The handwriting is on the wall. He would not be an independent, good provider for a family. If he sponges from his mom and dad, he would sponge from his mate.
The lack of religion has a lot to do with the Peter Pan syndrome. If a man does not have to take responsibility for sexual activity because of the Pill , he avoids growing up. He remains with the Lost Boys, and at least they lived away from their mom and dads in Neverland.
The last issue to review is the social welfare state which allows young men to get money without working. Take a look at some towns in Kent. Young men are out, walking the streets, not working, but they have girlfriends, and smoke, and generally act like they deserve a living doing nothing. Socialism takes away personal pride and personal initiative. More than a hundred years of Church teaching from the Popes warned the West of the evil of socialism undermining the individual's need to work and the dignity of work. Now we see the result-in our lost boys. We shall see the complete denouement in the collapse of Western Civilization in these countries.
