WASHINGTON — Americans aged 18 to 29 are living at home longer, receiving significant economic support from family members and unsure whether there’s value in getting a college degree, according to a Heartland Monitor poll that insurance giant Allstate Corp. and the magazine National Journal released this week.
Allstate CEO Tom Wilson discussed the poll and other topics with McClatchy Newspapers.
Question: What did your survey find about millennials?
Answer: You see this economic bridge between generations. Forty percent of millennials get direct financial support from their parents or relatives. A third of them live in their parents’ houses. If you’re just looking at the 25s and over, about 25 percent of them get money (from family). … It could be in part because of the economic situation. I think it’s longer-term than just the current (situation).
The other part of it, which doesn’t show up in the poll … 40 percent of grandparents are the primary caregiver of the grandchildren.
Q: This illustrates the economic strains on families. Should that give pause to making serious changes in how social welfare programs such as Social Security and Medicare are funded?
A: To the extent we change those programs, we have to be cognizant of the impact they’ll have on millennials. It does not mean we shouldn’t change them. Everyone knows you need to fix it; the millennials say you need to fix it. But we have to recognize there will be a secondary effect on the millennials, which we will need to factor into our solution.
Q: You also found that recent college grads are starting their careers $37,000 in debt and question the utility of their degrees?
A: If you ask millennials if going to college is a ticket to the middle class or success, about 45 percent say yeah. About an equal number say, “No, it’s not worth the money.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
