Living at home: what Oprah missed

Before Oprah destroyed that guy’s career on her show, I flipped to ABC when she was talking about something even more interesting to me. According to statistics gathered by her staff, more and more American 30-year-olds are going back to live with their parents.

Having considered this possible future in vivid detail, I was curious to find out why this number was on the rise. The show touched only briefly on the causes, however, and the main advice I heard was for parents to charge their older offspring rent and give them curfews.

More than half of college students plan to live at home for at least their first year out of school.

Oprah said that 38 percent of all 20- to 34-year-old singles now live with their parents. But there are other numbers to consider. According to Tamara Draut, author of “Strapped,” between 1977 and 2003, college enrollment increased by 44 percent. At the same time, student loan volume has increased by 833 percent.

After adjusting for inflation, a male high school graduate today makes $13,000 less than he would have in 1972. Those with bachelor’s degrees make $3,000 less than in ’72. (The numbers for women include more variables.) The average college senior has six credit cards, and for people younger than 24, the average debt has nearly tripled since 1983.

Perhaps I am biased because I am at the preventative stage rather than the disciplinary stage, but this information seems more pertinent to the problem than does the question of who takes out the garbage.

While parents and the media have always fed children’s dreams, only recently has it become common to nurture those dreams past puberty. The fact that it is acceptable to live at home past 30 by so many parents indicates that it is more important for children to follow their dreams than to support themselves.

Or perhaps it is the final, living vision of the pursuit of happiness dreamt up by past dreamers. Now people can wait in stasis for the perfect opportunity to launch themselves into the workforce on their own terms, appreciating the support they had only from a position of never having been without.

More than half of college students plan to live at home for at least their first year out of school. This surprised me because I can’t imagine how to incorporate the habits I developed in college into my parents’ world. But it makes practical sense to many seeking jobs in saturated markets who would rather save money than cut the cord.

No one knows yet how the story ends for the basement day traders who live rent-free while bulking up their stock portfolios. But based on other success stories I’ve heard, it seems likely they’ll come out on top unless something silly happens to the value of the dollar.

If it weren’t for the natural laws of inflation distorting the value of money historically, these trends would be evident to anyone who bothered to notice. But once the math is done to correct for it, the numbers can speak for themselves

Of all people, Oprah could have taken an opportunity to shed light on issues beneath the surface of the problem. Perhaps instead of putting Band-Aids on hurt feelings, she could start reaching in there and disinfecting. With a few steps in the right direction, she could be one of the last heroes.