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Twenty-eight percent of recent graduates move back into their parents’ house after graduation. Nowadays, the boomerang generation views moving back home after obtaining a degree to be the norm. Despite the banality, for many recent graduates, this move is seen as a step backward.
Spectating on the financial and social independence achieved by friends and classmates from your parents’ couch admittedly makes millennials feel dissatisfied. But living at home despite having a degree to one’s name shouldn’t be imprisoning, it should be liberating.
If you come from a supportive middle-class family as most Americans do, you know what it’s like to live in a stable and encouraging environment surrounded by resources. In a time when existential crises are turning into routines and futures are uncertain, the home is just the environment recent graduates may thrive in.
High off a commencement speech, graduates feel invincible. Yet when they find themselves seemingly going backward and shacking up with Mom and Dad, that invincibility fades. Yet living at home gives one the opportunity to invest in oneself without the threat of financial ruin. A child now has the freedom and time to express themselves and explore different paths without having to worry about paying next month’s rent. Creative ideas and business ventures can be explored because of the environment of the home.
When jotted down, there are a number of similarities between a startup incubator and your parents’ home. Both provide a functional workspace, mentoring, networking opportunities, logistics assistance, and other services. Parents and their homes provide a wealth of knowledge and resources that can be tapped when framed as ‘home incubators.’
As middle-class adults, our parents can provide valuable advice on a range of professional subjects. Not only do recent grads gain access to this but also to their parents’ professional ecosystems. If your parents are well connected, forgoing their connections would be negligent. No doubt within your family’s network of relationships there is someone who can guide you towards your career path.
While every boomerang millennial works out their own deal with their parents, most are allowed to stay home for a set period of time before they must start chipping in financially. This free period gives incubator residents the opportunity to explore ideas full-time without the worry of making money. Not to mention that like with startup incubators, your parents may be willing to provide certain financial services such as purchasing supplies or services that you’d have to pay for otherwise.
WiFi, conference rooms, copiers, kitchens stocked with food, and ping-pong tables are all incubator staples, yet can also probably be found in your parents’ home as well. But don’t expect to be mooching off these services without a viable pathway to show.
Doubtful will it be that your parents allow you to creatively gallivant without a purpose in mind. Any quality incubator sets mandates that companies are to follow. The same mandate required by startup incubators is requisite within the home as well. Parents will inquire and demand that incubator residents are putting themselves on a viable trajectory.
Changing the boomerang narrative by framing the home as an incubator can empower young professionals in limbo. By utilizing all the resources that come from professional exploration within the home, graduates can find professional liberation. By teaming up with parents, the family can act as a cohesive unit that shares a common goal of professional gratification.
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