Your kids left home. You redecorated their rooms so you finally have a study or maybe a chic guest room. Extra space is the main benefit of an empty nest.
But don't get too used to all that room. Your twenty-something kids could soon be knocking at your door.
That's the conclusion of the 2010 MonsterCollege Survey from monster.com, the job search web site. The annual survey polled 1,250 recent college grads as well as current students and found that they're very aware of how hard it is to get a job. One popular solution to the money crunch: moving back home. In this year's survey, 52 said they were living with their parents compared to 40 percent a year ago. And many of them plan of settling it for a while; 31 percent said they expected to stay with their parents for a year or longer.
But don't get too discouraged. Young people are more optimistic this year than they were in 2009, according to the survey. Only 49 percent said they would be willing to settle for a job outside of their chosen field, down from 58 percent in 2009. That means they have some confidence that things will get better if they can just get their foot in the door of a job.
And that's where you come in. Be glad you can help, and encourage them to become independent as soon as they can. If all goes well, you'll have that study back before long.
