<story><title>Japan’s lost generation is still jobless and living with their parents</title><url>https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-japan-lost-generation/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>maerF0x0</author><text>Again. We&amp;#x27;re failing to address the &amp;quot;so what?&amp;quot; What does this scenario represent that is _the actual problem_ of the matter?</text></item><item><author>saagarjha</author><text>That&amp;#x27;s because the scenario you&amp;#x27;ve mentioned does not describe these households. The problem here is that there are adults who are partially or wholly supported by their parents in a house where they are not living with (nor was it designed for them to live with) a spouse or children.</text></item><item><author>maerF0x0</author><text>I feel like the &amp;quot;Jobless and living with parents&amp;quot; pejorative is missing the mark.&lt;p&gt;Jobless -- So what? If a country has figured out how to provide for its people w&amp;#x2F;o jobs, so what? For example if we had perfect AI-robot slaves we&amp;#x27;d all be jobless. Would it be a problem?  Maybe we should ask people why they want a job, maybe what they want to do doesnt require one?&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Living with their parents&amp;quot; - Again, so what? Much of the world and across much of history this was just how it was. No one denigrates someone 0-20 for living with their parents, why should a 30 yr old be denigrated for the same. Plus, for many of us so lucky the same scenario, with opposite take, will occur-- our parents will move in with us later in their life and we&amp;#x27;ll &amp;quot;live with our parents&amp;quot; again. Plus when you add that median sq foot of homes (at least in USA) is rising, you can comfortably live with more people in &amp;quot;home&amp;quot;. With double master bedrooms more common and more square feet we&amp;#x27;re blurring the lines of what a single home means. Some houses are so big that you could just put a dividing wall and a separate entrance and you&amp;#x27;d have 2 homes...</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>alxlaz</author><text>&amp;gt; What does this scenario represent that is _the actual problem_ of the matter?&lt;p&gt;Among others:&lt;p&gt;- Crippling depression for many of those who are jobless and living with their parents in a culture that is not exactly friendly to them.&lt;p&gt;- An increased incidence of health issues that are correlated with depression and loneliness.&lt;p&gt;- Decreased quality of life for elderly parents who need to support their children within the confines of a difficult, stressful job market and a pension system that sees increasing pressure from an aging population.&lt;p&gt;- An aging working population that has difficulties filling positions around a particular range of experience, which -- in turn -- can make it harder to sustain the social programs required to help people cope.&lt;p&gt;- Increased pressure on social spending in the long term, since people who are struggling to find jobs in their fourties are unlikely to be in a super well-paid position by the time they&amp;#x27;re sixty.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s not like these people are basking in a Russell-esque life of idyllic idleness, like they&amp;#x27;re taking a perpetual sabbatical year. Many of them don&amp;#x27;t &lt;i&gt;want&lt;/i&gt; to be in the position they&amp;#x27;re in.</text></comment>
<story><title>Japan’s lost generation is still jobless and living with their parents</title><url>https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-japan-lost-generation/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>maerF0x0</author><text>Again. We&amp;#x27;re failing to address the &amp;quot;so what?&amp;quot; What does this scenario represent that is _the actual problem_ of the matter?</text></item><item><author>saagarjha</author><text>That&amp;#x27;s because the scenario you&amp;#x27;ve mentioned does not describe these households. The problem here is that there are adults who are partially or wholly supported by their parents in a house where they are not living with (nor was it designed for them to live with) a spouse or children.</text></item><item><author>maerF0x0</author><text>I feel like the &amp;quot;Jobless and living with parents&amp;quot; pejorative is missing the mark.&lt;p&gt;Jobless -- So what? If a country has figured out how to provide for its people w&amp;#x2F;o jobs, so what? For example if we had perfect AI-robot slaves we&amp;#x27;d all be jobless. Would it be a problem?  Maybe we should ask people why they want a job, maybe what they want to do doesnt require one?&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Living with their parents&amp;quot; - Again, so what? Much of the world and across much of history this was just how it was. No one denigrates someone 0-20 for living with their parents, why should a 30 yr old be denigrated for the same. Plus, for many of us so lucky the same scenario, with opposite take, will occur-- our parents will move in with us later in their life and we&amp;#x27;ll &amp;quot;live with our parents&amp;quot; again. Plus when you add that median sq foot of homes (at least in USA) is rising, you can comfortably live with more people in &amp;quot;home&amp;quot;. With double master bedrooms more common and more square feet we&amp;#x27;re blurring the lines of what a single home means. Some houses are so big that you could just put a dividing wall and a separate entrance and you&amp;#x27;d have 2 homes...</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>function_seven</author><text>I suppose if you polled people in this situation, and just asked them, &amp;quot;Is this the life you want to live?&amp;quot;, that would answer the your question.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t know what the results would be, but I can guess that a large percentage of unemployed 30- and 40-somethings living with their parents would very much rather not be. Is it 10%, 35%, 65%? I&amp;#x27;m guessing over 50% to be sure.&lt;p&gt;You can argue that the society is set up wrong. But there it is, with this large cohort of people isolated and shut in. In an economy that still relies on a younger population to take care of its elders.&lt;p&gt;Robots might one day deal with all productive work, but we&amp;#x27;re nowhere near that yet.</text></comment>