Subsidized in the City

She is only speaking to the 99% whose parents can afford to help them. She isn't speaking to the rest of us. She is an elitist and speaks to the other elites. She has no idea how the rest of us have made it and have had to do it since high school.

yea, you did have alot handed to you. you are able to afford how you live now from your parents no matter how you look at it. they paid for private school which looks good on resumes for jobs and college's. hence they had money to put you in a nice college as well, then pay for tuition, books, spending. and im assuming through much of that you werent working a full time job...then you graduate with a nice degree from a nice college which sets you up for a nice paying job that allows you to afford living in new york. i have a friend that just graduated top of the class at notre dame and is set up making almost 6 figures straight out of school who is moving to hells kitchen in NY. he didnt work a whole lot growing but he was taught how to manage his dough. now he has a whole lot of dough, no need for a car since hes living a few blocks from one of the biggest and most successful finicial firms in NY. and his parents made it possible through they're wallets. now me, i chose not to go to college...yet...but im making my way on my own through full time work and through starting my own business and getting paid to DJ clubs and parties all over town. i learned how to manage my money, learned how manage my life for the most part on my own. and when i go back to college im paying for everything on my own. glad to see you have been able to ween yourself off of mom and dad but until you are forced to do it on your own, which you never will be forced to do, you cant really be high and mighty about anything. good writing though. it flows nicely.

My husband and I married at 23 and put both of ourselves through graduate school (my husband--in the PR field), while working and living in New York City. We did not have the privilege of private schools or job connections in the city. We have managed to do all of that off of one income so that now that our baby is coming, we are not accustomed to spending on two incomes and I can stay at home and raise my own child. And we know of no one who goes on $500 shopping sprees. Her view is definitely not the "real world," and she's already started off with a huge advantage over the average folks. If she really needed to budget, maybe she'd consider moving to Queens.

This article really hit home to me. Being surrounded by people who's parents pay all their rent and utilites, I feel pitty for them. It's sad state when adults do not want to be responsible for themselves and run to their parents. If they can't afford to live without their parent's help, why leave home to begin with?

I think it's valid to notice that the people around you are taking more and more financial assistance from their parents and touting it as the norm. More and more, my friends (even my boyfriend) take an enormous amount of money from their parents and expect the assistance to be never ending. And more and more, my friends are asking me if I don't resent my parents for not paying my way for college. They even made me buy my own clothes and extras once I got a job at the age of 14. And I don't see a problem with gradually readying your child for life on their own at any age. I'd like to see an article that discusses being grateful to be independent even younger.

I agree with the author 100%. And as an older member of "Generation Y" I am proud to say that I am financially independent, thanking my parents for teaching me the value of being so. I left my suburb of Cleveland for college and never turned back. Worked hard at earning my BA followed by my masters and completed the cycle by moving to Chicago once I accepted a job offer. I didn't come from money and never had a credit card linked to my parents account. I've worked, and worked hard for what I have. Now I live my own life now and I'm proud to do so, finding it hard to relate to those who do not. Unlike my other (and mostly younger) counterparts I am paying my own rent, my own bills, and paying off my own debt (like student loans, car payments and credit cards) and what a sense of accomplishment that gives me. If I want the "extras" or "finer things" in life I know that I will have to sacrifice something else. Sometimes it's worth it, other times it's not. But in the end it is my choice and I take full responsibility for it. Cheers to all those who do!

People wonder why we are in the state we are today, with people running tens of thousands of dollars on their credit cards, buying homes they know they cannot afford and straining the rest of country who is responsible enough to live within their means... Maybe if more people were willing to "grow up" and start acting like responsbile adults half the issues we have today could be resolved.

If the author was truly comfortable and confident with her decision to be financially independent, she wouldn't feel the need to put down her peers and her own friends. Why is it her (or anyone else's) business where anyone, of any age, gets their money? If you don't want to take money that's offered to you- that's your prerogative...but don't be jealous of people who do.

If the parents want to help their kids with the "extras" in life, and these "kids" have a college education, a good job, and are generally self-sufficient, so what if the parents give them something? If the parents dangle their kid on an emotional string, bribe them for attention, then no, the kids should decline the gifts/money. Otherwise, what's the harm? My grandmother gives her surviving children (my mom is one, soon age 69) $10k a year, for example. At 92 this month, grandma doesn't need it, and she wants to gift it.
If I am well off, and my kids are on the right path, why not help them?

T hats awesome that you are so proud about not having your parents pay for rent. Lets get real though, they paid for 10 yrs of education at private schools. Some of us actually paid for our own private education and have never had our parents pay for rent. So when you are paying off student loans and have no other help from the family then I might pay attention. I mean I couldnt even read the rest of this article after that statement. Totally no credit after that. Sorry.

As the parent of 2 twentysomething children, this is refreshing to read. One lives with me and the other is struggling to make it own his own. It's not easy for either one, but I feel the child trying to make it on his own stands a better chance of succeeding later in life than the one who lives at home. The one living at home has 6 more months of rent free housing but she's on notice that it will end and she needs to be in a position by February to get her own place or start paying rent to me. I've curtailed any other financial assistance I give either child and limit it to small gifts of money on birthday and Christmas. In the meantime, I defer as much as I can afford to my retirement account. Perhaps one or both child will be financially able to care for me in my old age, but it's not something I count on. And young adults don't need to count on parents footing the bill for their care either. If you visit the well too much, eventually it will dry up.

Thank you for this article! I moved to Chicago from Cleveland with the money I saved from living with mom and dad for one year after college. I moved here with no job lined up and no solid place to call my own (I camped out on a friend's couch for 2 months). It was such a struggle for me to budget while temptations of the new city overwhelmed me. Not finding a job in the less than fruitful job market of 2001 also seemed like impending doom. But, I made it. I made it because I had no choice. My parents were already financially drained from paying for my private college education, so if I didn't somehow make it via my own means, then I would have had to move back to Ohio, which was not an option in my life plan. I certainly consider myself a stronger and more independent person because of my struggles. With no back-up, I learned from my mistakes (and there were plenty) instead of repeating them. Hooray for confident, independent twenty-somethings everywhere!

Hallelujah sister! Amen to that! I need to forward this article to 90% of my law school class who's mommy and daddy foot the bill! Thanks for letting me know there are others out there that actually pay their bills on their own!

Not all 20-somethings are spoiled brats? There are a lot of young adults that do sponge off their parents, and if it weren't for their parents handing them money left and right whenever they ask for it, maybe they would have a better head on their shoulders and actually take responsibilty for their own finances. My parents are divorced and my mom had to work 2 jobs to supplement what little child support she received. I was in high school working part-time as well, and if I even asked for $5 to go by a poster board for a school project, I felt guilty... Just saying don't assume all of us "young people" are worthless b/c eventually one day you're social security check will depend on what we make regardless if we benefit anything from it...

When my parents and I lived in the same house, I paid rent, paid my utility bill, paid for my phone bill, cable bill, car insurance, etc. I bought enough food for breakfast and lunch, and my parents and I had dinner together each night. I lived in, and have returned to, my parents' former home after evacuation from Hurricane Katrina, and returning to New Orleans in 2006. My parents have relocated to Baton Rouge. My point is, that I agree with Ms. Serafino about her concerns about her friends who still live off of their parents, and haven't learned to budget, set aside money for retirement or emergencies, or think about the future. It's not just about financial and social independence. It's about thinking about the "when" most of us don't want to think about: when our parents die. At some point, these 20-somethings, whose parents are in their mid-fifties, will have to live without that weekly or monthly check from Mom and Dad, or the credit card their parents pay for each month, which allows them to live without really being responsible for their own futures. Now is the time to think about that future, and to plan for it. What's more important: $500 for the latest shoes, or $500 in an emergency fund?

Forgive me, but I can't take it any longer. The work ethic will soon be dead. Many young and 'semi-young' want jobs, as long as little work is involved. The sponger's and '24/7' whiners think the world owes them something. Do you know how disgusting these people are to those who have worked since preteens. We washed cars, stocked grocery's, mowed lawns, delivered papers, etc. And we paid for our own college if we managed to get out of the grinding poverty, because our parents were poor. We had to work, but more, we WANDED to work because it was the only route to 'stuff' and 'things'. I'm not bragging or whining. I'm just pointing out that I learned about work, budgeting and responsibility early, and I'm a better person as a result. Any of our young adults who are not diligently applying themselves today are destined to have a difficult future.

I'm 23 living outside Manhattan. I recently moved here from Missouri after accepting a job as a flight attendant. I am completely financially independent from my relatives-- and have been for about four years! However, my parents were ones who did not like funding their children's habits-- I had to buy my own car/insurance and everything I needed for school and college after the age of 16. I was just expected to hold a job and pay for things myself or else not have them. My parents never chipped in a dime for my college education. I think it makes me a much more self sufficient and mature 20 something that I know I can afford the lifestyle I want and do not have to answer to anyone about it. I loved your article!

I had to work four jobs in College and take out a massive student loan. I'm happy for people who's parents help so they won't have the stress of full-time school, campus involvement, bills, and work all piled on at the same time. Still, I felt myself resenting them for having it so easy while I struggled to make ends meet while trying to find time to get through college.