This story was originally published on risemiaminews.com on May 28, 2015.
By Damian Gordon
Every year that passes, there seems to be less people who are saying “hold up, let me clean my place” and instead say “hold up, let me tell my parents first”.
The sign of being well off as a young person is no longer having one’s own place; instead it’s just having a place at all.
It’s no secret that living is South Florida is more expensive than anywhere else in the state.
But here’s the thing. There’s no shame in living at home in a city that doesn’t support people of our generation.
Millennials include people born from roughly 1980 to the early 2000’s, basically meaning the age group from 15-35.
Living at home allows young adults to prepare themselves financially for later in life and lets them avoid living in debt.
However, Census Bureau data shows that millennials have acquired more student loans compared to previous generations, despite being better educated. Education costs much more than it once did.
If a boyfriend or girlfriend complains about their “roommates”, the logical question in South Florida would be to ask if that roommate also gave birth to them.
At least when living at home, you’re surrounded by longtime roommates, instead of some sketchy person met on Craigslist or a dorm assignment. There is also less to be paid for, leaving someone additional time to further their career as well as lessen any financial strain.
According to the Census Bureau, a historic 30% of today’s U.S millennials live at home with the number in South Florida being 41%.
If a boyfriend or girlfriend complains about their “roommates”, the logical question in South Florida would be to ask if that roommate also gave birth to them.
Another reason today’s younger generation is living at home is because the average earnings for the age group is lower than it’s ever been in the last 30 years, coming in at just $34,000. Payscale, reports the cost of housing in Miami is 24% higher than the national average, while the average earnings by Floridians in the age group are lower compared to the rest of nation.
During the “Great Recession” when the economy collapsed on itself, many were forced to move back in with their parents after losing their household or job. For many people coming out of college in that period, there were no jobs open to them as companies looked to cut costs.
Recently, Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University commented on the subject in a poignant interview.
“Recessions are always rough on younger people, but this one has been particularly rough. The recovery has been so slow, and it’s also been kind of slow on the labor market side of things,”Rugy said.
While the country is considered to be out of an official recession, the effects from it are still felt today. It’s ok for the younger generation to live at home because the alternative could be a constant struggle that could limit future growth and opportunities. A friend might joke about it while eating ramen noodles the other is chowing down a nice home cooked meal.
If you’re a millennial, don’t pull this article out in another 20 years to point out why you’re still living at home. Instead, be proud that countless others are going through the same thing and plan for a better tomorrow.
Cover Photo Credit: elvissa/Flickr
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#MaybeHeDoesntHitYou Shows Why Abuse Doesn’t Always Have To Be Physical
Over the past couple of days one of the top trending hashtags on twitter has been #MaybeHeDoesntHitYou.
Using the hashtag, women online have been able to share their experiences of past emotionally and mentally abusive relationships, helping to break the stigma that a relationship has to be physically violent to be considered abusive.
In only 140 characters women from around the world have told the horrifying and true reality that some must face every day.
For such a long time many people believed that in order to be considered an abusive relationship, there has to be a physical element to it.
Women who were in mentally and emotionally abusive relationships genuinely believed that if they did not have bruises or marks to show for it, that they weren’t being abused.This idea is what for years kept women with the men who would insult, degrade, and humiliate them on a regular basis.
But using the hashtag women are banding together and taking a stand. These tweets are bringing to light elements of abuse that thousands of women always considered to just be typical parts of being in a relationship.
They want to redefine what it means to be abused. Be called degrading names, being manipulated and controlled, and broken down by someone that “loves you” isn’t normal. It isn’t something any one should have to take.
Being made to feel lesser or not good enough by a significant other is not being loved. It is abuse.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
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Lawmaker Says He Put “Boss” Daphne Campbell Signs On Public School Property
What’s News With This Story:–Roy Hardemon, a member of the Florida House of Representatives admitted that he personally put up campaign yard signs on public school property.
-Hardemon said he did it for his “boss”, State Senator Daphne Campbell.
-Two Campbell re-election campaign signs were spotted on a fence on WJ Bryan Elementary School in North Miami by a RISE NEWS reporter.
-Miami-Dade Public Schools have regulations against political candidates putting campaign materials on school grounds.
-Hardemon and Campbell are two of the most controversial politicians in Florida politics.
-Hardemon is one of 120 Florida State Representatives, while Campbell is one of 40 State Senators.
The 2018 primary election is still over eight months away, but that hasn’t stopped two local politicians from trying to use public school property to win votes for one of their campaigns.
State Representative Roy Hardemon, a Miami Democrat, personally put up two large yard signs for State Senator Daphne Campbell’s re-election campaign on the gate of WJ Bryan Elementary School in North Miami.
A RISE NEWS reporter spotted the two signs on opposite ends of the school’s property off busy 125th St.
He then called Campbell’s Senate office to get an explantation for why they were placed there.
Moments later the reporter received a phone call from an unidentified man who said that he put the signs up on Campbell’s behalf.
“It ain’t nothing wrong with [a sign] saying Happy Holidays,” the man said. “I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with that.”
When asked the made identified himself as “Roy… Representative Roy Hardemon.”
The phone number from which he called the reporter from matched the phone number that Hardemon listed with the Florida Candidate Tracking System.
“You called my boss and she chewed me out,” Hardemon said of Campbell. “I put the signs up for her. She blasted me out.”
Hardemon, who represents House District 108, hasn’t publicly disclosed payments from Campbell if he is indeed employed by her.
In fact, he hasn’t publicly disclosed any form of income on his Financial Interest Disclosure filings with the Florida Commission on Ethics.
Hardemon also doesn’t have a profession listed on his State Legislature Bio on the Florida House of Representatives website.
He is one of only three member of the 120 member House to not have a listed occupation (The others being Jennifer Mae Sullivan and Barbara Watson).
When pressed on his relationship with Campbell, a Democrat who represents District 38, Hardemon backtracked.
“She’s not my boss, she’s my friend,” Hardemon said.
Campbell was not able to be reached by the time of publication.
Hardemon said that parents of the school should be happy to support Campbell because of what he said was her leadership on their behalf.
“Somebody’s doing there best and people are complaining about signs,” Hardemon said. “I’ve had it up to here with these petty complaints.”
He also said that he thought the signs were allowed to be on the school’s fence.
Florida State Rep. Roy Hardemon. Photo: Roy Hardemon/ Facebook
“The fence is a public right of way,” Hardemon said of the fence, which is clearly on school property. “You know how it’s called, it’s an unwritten rule.”
Except that is not an unwritten rule, the rule is actually written down.
According to the Miami-Dade County Public Schools policy on advertisements on school grounds, political campaign materials are not allowed.
“Advertisements containing a campaign or other political message supporting or opposing a political candidate for public office, a political platform, or a political issue, are prohibited,” the school board passed law reads.
Since Miami-Dade public schools were out for the winter break, spokespeople for the School Board were unable to be reached.
Calls to Bryan Elementary were also not answered due to the break.
Both Campbell and Hardemon represent Bryan Elementary in Tallahassee and both are up for re-election to their offices in August.
Campbell tried to use her connection to an FPL lobbyist to turn on electricity at her house after Hurricane Irma and Hardemon has been arrested 19 times over his life, including for punching a woman in the face in 2014.
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These Miami Kids Walked Out Of Class To Send Marco Rubio And The NRA A Message
Miami Shores isn’t normally known for its political activism. But students at Miami Country Day School poured out of class and marched to a nearby park in order to send a message to the gun lobby.
Let’s just say that they didn’t hold back.
RISE NEWS is South Florida’s digital news magazine. Follow us on Facebook to make sure you never miss a story!
Have a news tip about this topic or something completely different? Send it on in to [email protected]
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