3 Out of 4 Millennials Have Received Financial Help from Parents After College

And from others I've talked to, unless you are in a wheelchair (and maybe not even then), they will automatically deny you multiple times, until a hearing is scheduled. From what I understand, it acts as a filter for people that can "technically" go back to work (even if they are in extreme pain, if someone doesn't have others to support them, many applicants don't have a choice but to work when they really shouldn't).

My initial take on this article was "This is a crappy piece of journalism which takes some arbitrary facts and tries to use it to criticize millennials." My observation is that generally crappy journalism can be easily exposed and lampooned by inverting the headline's wording which doesn't change its meaning but flips its implication. So "3 out of 4 millennials get helped by parents" flipped is "1 out 4 parents of millennials don't help them." The first might be interpreted that millennials are slackers and the other might be that baby boomers are lousy parents. Both implications are unwarranted and wrong. And that is the hallmark of crappy journalism. There is no interpretation of this headline which conveys useful information.

As a parent, and having been around thousands of parents and read many surveys of parents, there is a common theme. The majority of the time they want to help their kids in any way they can. It is instinctual. Further, any assistance parents give their grown children can be interpreted as "financial" assistance, from babysitting the grand children to giving them the old sofa that has been in the basement for the last 10 years. And that in no way reflects on the character of the children, aka the millennials, in this piece.

That said, I never intended to imply that parents who could not help their children should be criticized. My use of the inversion device would have the headline imply that, and I would disagree with a story based on that just as much as I do the current one.

But I also wouldn't expect any help after college - I'm an adult now, and need to handle it myself.

Could I have done more, had an easier time starting out on my own, or gone on vacations with financial support from my parents? Probably, but I don't think that's necessary. My parents taught me what I needed to succeed on my own and that's what I see as important.

Of course "post-college" is a key phrase. I wouldn't have been where I was if my parents hadn't paid almost all of my college expenses and bought me a car a couple years in. My mother had similar help during her college years, but my father didn't, and the two of them provided a similar boost to my 2 siblings, as well.

Even though my parents were doing very well there wasn't this concept of loading children down with gifts and such they clamored for because it can lead to disappointment later on or worse dependence.

When push came to shove I know more than a few who did a stint in the service to shore up finances, teach responsibility, and save up for college. Perhaps its a regional thing, but we never though of deserving more than the chance to try and succeed but recent generations come across as wanting it all now

I stepped onto the RIT campus as a freshmen in 1998, and total costs per year were north of $35,000. Expecting a clueless kid to understand what that means is insane.

In my country it is quite common that parents first pay for a wedding and then help as much as they can with buying/building a house for newly married couple. It is considered parent's duty to help their children kick-start their own family.

And because that usually means that parents won't save enough money for their own retirement then the children are supposed to take care of them when they do retire. Most of the time that helps maintain strong family bonds, but sometimes it does exactly the opposite.

When you're poor, and your family's poor, a lot of options are closed off to you. I know some people who were given old cars by parents; I always had to buy my own. That's just a couple thousand dollars for a used car, but that stuff adds up when it's not just a car, not just a loan for a house, but everything taken together.

That said I agree with the overall point that the term is so vague/broad it's basically meaningless if not clearly defined. Does living at home after college count?

The value of having a multi-million-dollar safety net, (Or even someone to pay for a bus ride home, and a room to live in), however, cannot be understated.

Some could argue that counts as "spending money", but I don't think it would count unless it was a recurring thing.

The definition, then, of "financial assistance" is very broad and covers more than just literal cash.

At the same time I'm tired of being lumped into the "privileged white male" group when being white is literally the ONLY advantage I've ever had. I've never gotten a single penny handed to me from anyone, related or not, since turning 17.

yes, that is like the definition of privilege

But I can't argue against the reality that having two parents who stay married, are not abusive to each other or their children, and are generally functional human beings is something of a luxury.