12.16.2013

Contented Hikikomori

The following appeared on Bostonglobe.com Dec 16, 2013
Headline: Idle millennials are victims of their parents’ success 
Summary:
Word that 6 million young people are not working or studying comes as no surprise to anyone with a millennial in the basement. Yes, 85 percent of this age group is in school or working — albeit many in low-wage jobs. Six million, however, is not an insignificant number. — I wouldn’t want to feed them — though apparently we’re likely to. And their situation is worrisome, as is that of their parents, who no longer fear an empty nest but offspring seemingly incapable of flight. Their fears are grounded researchers say -people who begin their adult lives without jobs are more likely to be unemployed in the future. Bodies at rest remain at rest, even when a portion of one’s idle time is dispatched at the neighborhood gym. Even more unnerving, this generation has contrived a new level of inertia, which the Japanese call “hikikomori.” It’s young people who don’t leave the house at all, not necessarily because they’re scared like agoraphobics, but because their needs are met and they’re content.

Read the full article here, even better -

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