In the article Rental study shows young adults leaving nests, which was published in the Chicago Tribune on October 18, 2013, Umberger (2013) reported that with the economy slowly improving, more and more young adults are moving out of their parents’ homes and are looking to rent their own places. As a backgrounder to this article, the trend among young adults during the economic recession was that many of them went back to live with their parents upon realizing that the economy didn’t allow them to afford their own apartments or rentals. However, the trend that rental companies and property managers are seeing in recent years is that many of these young adults are now seeking to rent their own places.
The study reported in this article was based on an annual survey conducted by Rent.com, which involved property managers who were responsible for overseeing around one million apartment units. The survey showed an increase in single tenants in 2012, which suggested that young adults are starting to live on their own. The results also showed that it hasn’t been uncommon for more friends to rent together.
In this article, it can be seen that young adults seek their own identity, a goal that a person starts to work towards since adolescence. According to developmental stages of Erik Erikson, the development of people from the adolescent stage onwards no longer depends on what is done to them but on what they themselves do (Harder, 2012). Beginning from the adolescent stage, an individual intends to separate from their family of origin and as members of a wider society. Although adolescents are not yet in a position to live independently from their parents, this mindset builds until they become young adults at which time they are already more capable of supporting themselves and living on their own. This can be seen in the results of the study by Rent.com where young adults intend to move out of their parents’ houses as soon as they deem themselves financially capable of supporting themselves.
Erikson’s developmental stages also indicate that young adults seek companions and love through marriage and friends. As the study showed, more young adults now rent with their friends. Also, they recognize that it would be difficult for them to build romantic relationships and get married while they are living with their parents. As such, living on their own will enable them more freedom in pursuing the relationships that they want. This would also help prepare them for marriage. On the other hand, if the individual does not achieve these goals during this stage, it can make them isolate and distance themselves from others (Harder, 2012), which can be another treason that they seek to live on their own.
This is related to developmental psychology in that it shows how people grow and change over time (Cherry, 2014). In particular, it shows that young adults seek independence and the opportunity to build their own lives and their own families. It shows how young adults develop socially (i.e. they seek to build their own identity); emotionally (i.e. they seek relationships and love); and cognitively (i.e. they want to have their own achievements) (“Physical and Cognitive Development in Young Adulthood,” 2006).
The information provided by the article was sufficient for the iaudience to understand the message. Although the study was not a very formal one and although its results were not reported i a scholarly article, they can still be considered credible in terms of providing the audience with information and insight on the habitation trends among young adults. It should be noted, though, that since the study was not conducted in a scholarly way, the results may not be generalizable. In this regard, the results should be understood from the perspective of indications of a trend instead of as hard facts.
Reference
Cherry, K. (2014). Introduction to developmental psychology. Retrieved from
http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentstudyguide/p/devintro.htm.
Harder, A. F. (2012). The developmental stages of Erik Erikson. Retrieved from
http://www.support4change.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&
Itemid=108/Erikson.html.
Physical and cognitive development in young adulthood. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073133809/student_view0/chapter13/.
Umberger, M. (2013, October 18). Rental study shows young adults leaving nests. Chicago
Tribune. Retrieved from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-10-18/classified/sc-
cons-1017-umberger-20131018_1_property-managers-new-units-young-adults.
