Millennials want money to leave home

The mystery known as Millennials can now be solved with two new research reports. Yes, we’ve been told that members of this cohort are idealistic, entrepreneurial and more interested in life-work balance than their Baby Boomer parents. And yet while that may have been true, it seems that some may be taking a different view as the realities of adulthood set in. According to a new study by Toptal, a network of freelance software engineers and designers, what really drives recent grads is M-O-N-E-Y. In fact, 62 percent put salary as the number one factor when looking for a job out of school. That compares to:

• 46 percent desiring a flexible work schedule;
• 31 percent wanting to travel;
• 24 percent looking to quickly gain experience.

Perhaps the biggest reason Millennials value salary above other factors – analysis my own – is that so many live with their parents and wish they didn't. According to a new Pew Research Center report, the percentage of young adults living at home with their parents is at the highest level since such records have been kept. While it is widely proffered that the Great Recession exacerbated this situation, Pew’s study found it actually began in 2007 before the financial collapse. This common living arrangement has been brought about by a combination of high levels of debt from college loans along with a lack of available well-paying positions. Jobs, a lack of the good kind, are at the heart of Millennials’ problems. In this regard, young males have found the going very tough. In 2014, 71 percent of males between 18 and 34 were employed. That compares to 84 percent of males in the same age group who had jobs in 1960, according to Pew.

• Toptal Survey: Recent Grads Care More About Money than Using their Degree—or Job Flexibility – Toptal
• For First Time in Modern Era, Living With Parents Edges Out Other Living Arrangements for 18- to 34-Year-Olds – Pew Research Center