Parents - Kippers in Your Kitchen?

Did you know that there is a very disturbing trend in the developed countries? One which threatens to eradicate the hard-earning savings of many parents? In fact, you may already have one or two kippers lurking in the kitchen late at night, eating the last piece of cake and leaving a stack of unwashed dishes in the sink. And if it hasn’t already happened – beware, there could be a potential kipper innocently doing his homework as you read this.

In the UK alone, over seven million adults are still living at home with Mum and Dad: and believe it or not, 2 million of them are over 30, and yet another million are close to 40. They have a very fishy name - Kippers – Kids in Parents’ Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings. And the Kipper phenomenon is emerging in all first world countries, especially Japan, where these young people have an even more derogatory name - parasite singles. What’s going on?

More young people are going to university than ever before and they are leaving education with huge debts and finding it difficult to get suitable employment. With no job and house prices soaring, their chances of getting on the property ladder are non-existent.

But why is it so difficult for them to get jobs – after all, they’ve all got degrees? Well, the government is encouraging school leavers to stay in education, allegedly to raise the level of skills in the community. Think back to the 80s, when 13% of Britain’s teenagers went to university. Fast forward to today and that figure has shot up to 41.5%, but have large companies increased the number of graduate jobs or training schemes on offer by more than 25% in that timeframe? Of course not - and competition for a place on graduate training schemes has always been tough.

So, despite reports to the contrary, many young people are experiencing serious difficulties and are struggling to get a foothold in their chosen fields, even if they opt to accumulate even more debt by doing a postgraduate course.

This creates big problems, not only for Kippers but also for parents. Retirement savings are being eaten into and parents are looking at having to stay at work even longer or go back to work in order to support kids they had expected to be independent. Not good for anyone’s morale.

What can parents do get rid of their kippers and ensure that their younger siblings don’t grow up just like them? There are some simple steps you can take: encourage them to increase their transferable skills. The main skills which employers are looking for are:

Good literacy skills – you’d be surprised how many graduates don’t have them

Communication skills, both oral and written.

The ability to work as part of a team.

Adaptability and Flexibility

Good timekeeping

The ability to work on one’s own initiative.

These skills can be gained in part-time jobs, summer jobs or by doing voluntary work. If your child has already graduated, get her to look carefully at the career she wishes to follow and list the skills needed, choose one or two which she doesn’t have or needs to develop and then concentrate on getting them. So rather than being depressed about having to take a short-term job they don’t really want , Kippers should look at it as an opportunity to gain skills which will lead to their dream job later.

If you want to invest a small amount of money in your children’s future, the Jobseekers’ Success Kit will help them get a good job and save you money in the long run. (Works for parents too!)

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