I believe this to be a combination of the interwebs, a bad economy, and food pyramid.
The likelihood of 20-somethings moving to another state has dropped well over 40 percent since the 1980s, according to calculations based on Census Bureau data. The stuck-at-home mentality hits college-educated Americans as well as those without high school degrees. According to the Pew Research Center, the proportion of young adults living at home nearly doubled between 1980 and 2008, before the Great Recession hit. Even bicycle sales are lower now than they were in 2000. Today’s generation is literally going nowhere. This is the Occupy movement we should really be worried about.
…
In the most startling behavioral change among young people since James Dean and Marlon Brando started mumbling, an increasing number of teenagers are not even bothering to get their driver’s licenses. Back in the early 1980s, 80 percent of 18-year-olds proudly strutted out of the D.M.V. with newly minted licenses, according to a study by researchers at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute. By 2008 — even before the Great Recession — that number had dropped to 65 percent. Though it’s easy to blame the high cost of cars or gasoline, Comerica Bank’s Automobile Affordability Index shows that it takes fewer weeks of work income to buy a car today than in the early 1980s, and inflation-adjusted gasoline prices didn’t get out of line until a few years ago.
I have noticed the driving thing. I have nephews and nieces that had no interest in getting behind the wheel. I got my permit the day of my 16th birthday and my license as quickly as I could schedule the test. I would say I don’t get it but, I sometimes work from home, I shop from home, I get movies through my remote or PC, I pretend I like my friends through the fake smile of facebook. Its a pretty comfortable existence. When they have home delivery of Big Gulps and Big Macs, I may never go out again.
March 13, 2012 at 6:32 am
That day may be coming sooner than you think, Pat:
http://www.mcdonalds.com.my/mcdelivery/how2order.asp
March 13, 2012 at 10:55 am
"it takes fewer weeks of work income to buy a car today than in the early 1980s, and inflation-adjusted gasoline prices didn’t get out of line until a few years ago."
I'm not so sure about that. The Cash for Clunkers program has driven up the cost of used cars considerably.
Plus, many states have added mandatory insurance coverage laws since the early 1980s, which adds hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars a year to the cost of a car.
Add to that increases in license plate fees and sales taxes, and a long list of restrictions on when and where and with whom 16- and 17-year-olds can drive (in Illinois, for example, it's now illegal for a 16-year-old to drive around with a carload of friends due to limitations on the number of non-adult passengers he/she can have) and I can see where it just isn't worth the trouble or the expense for anyone to bother getting a license until they are 18 or older.
Elaine
March 13, 2012 at 1:42 pm
I would have liked to see if insurance had anything to do with kids not getting their licenses. Insurance can cost a lot of money especially if you are only working part time. Add the cost of the car repairs if they are needed, that is a lot of money that teenagers do not necessarily have. One of my first cars was a lemon but my parents were nice enough to pick up the cost of the repairs a couple of times just because I could not afford it. So I guess I could understand not wanting to get your license especially if you cannot afford the gas, insurance and repairs that it will need.
Cheri
March 13, 2012 at 1:46 pm
In the most startling behavioral change among young people since James Dean and Marlon Brando started mumbling
It now makes sense! For years, I could hardly understand what my teenage (now 20-something) son was saying, and I thought it was just me!?!?
March 13, 2012 at 2:08 pm
Both our teenagers didn't drive til they were 18 – why? Cost mostly.
– Drivers ed. in our state is mandatory before 18. If you miss even one day of a month long class, you must repeat. Catholic School students get one free shot, and after that its about $250 for privated drivers ed.
– waiting also puts some of the "new driver" insurance on them after their earning more.
– getting your license at 18 lets you skip the "not after dark" and other restrictions.
-Statisticaly 18 yr old new drivers have far fewer accidents their first year than 16 yr olds.
March 13, 2012 at 2:23 pm
Small town Louisiana reporting: I teach high school, and my daughter is in 10th Grade. I can attest that the teenagers here are much, much, much less interested in driving than my friends and I were at their age 25 years ago.
I don't think it has to do with the cost of anything. They don't complain that they *can't* drive because of the cost. They simply don't *want* to drive.
March 13, 2012 at 4:21 pm
Wow. So this phenom is not limited to my small hometown…
My 17 1/2 year old daughter has been resisting getting her driver's license, despite our pushing, and only recently has displayed any interest in even learning to drive. We thought it was just her, but after talking to lots of other parents and high school kids, have discovered that there is a widespread lack of interest in driving among the local teenagers here.
We had been saying what in the world is wrong with our daughter, then what is wrong with teenagers around here. Interesting to learn that this is bigger than that. But I still don't get it. Our daughter is super-responsible and motivated in school and at home. It isn't laziness, but more like a belief that there is nothing out there of much interest. No great open road and freedom, so who cares. And also…maybe…too great a concern with personal safety… Just anecdotally, this seems to be an issue for quite a few. Thank God our 15 year old is one of the few that is dying to get his license. I guess….
March 13, 2012 at 4:22 pm
I was watching my son at his X-Box playing this gorgeous video game where he can ride on horseback through the streets of Renaissance Florence, scale its buildings in a fancy cape, and pilot a flying machine made by DaVinci, soaring over the Tuscan countryside.
And the allure of driving through suburbia to get his momma and daddy some milk at the QT? Zippo.
March 14, 2012 at 3:59 am
Ahhhh, Assassin's Creed. I learned how to play video games for that game.
March 13, 2012 at 5:04 pm
My sixteen year-old also does not have her license yet. In her case, she is too busy with her extra classes and extra curricular activities needed to get into college these days so she has no time to take the required driving course.
I think in general, as well as in my case, teenagers as less keen to drive because we chauffeur them everywhere. My parents never took me anywhere. So the day I turned 16, you bet I got my license.
March 13, 2012 at 5:10 pm
We can't afford for our 15 year old to get his license.
Adding his older sister increased our car insurance by $1200/year. He can't get his license until she leaves for college. He'll be 16 1/2.
March 13, 2012 at 5:53 pm
In Michigan it's cumbersome and expensive to get your license before the age of 18. After 18 it's much simpler. Our teens, so far, are waiting because of that. It stinks.
March 13, 2012 at 6:02 pm
I'm 29 and would love to move to another state. Right now I'm stuck in Cleveland, Ohio which seems to have little interest in actually improving the local economy. Unfortunately, I cannot afford a move as most of my income goes to student loans and rent.
If any college students are reading this, I advise you not to go to law school. There probably is no six figure job waiting for you. You'll be lucky to make over $30,000.
I did get my driver's license when I turned 16, though. So I have something going for me.
March 13, 2012 at 6:13 pm
My 19 y/o just got his license. We only had one car and couldn't afford the driver's ed. plus insurance. His older bro. is epileptic, so driving is not even possible for him just yet. We're hoping to get the next one licensed before he turns 19, but the driver's ed. folks say the testers really look for that 50 hours expereience behind the wheel, and finding an extra 50 hours is not easy!
Also, that "it takes fewer hours of work to afford a car" bit is insane. My husband and I were just talking about the cost of his first car and how it compared to his minimum wage income vs. used cars and minimum wage today. We figured it would take 3-4 times as long to afford a car.
March 13, 2012 at 7:33 pm
Blackrep –
I think that's a lot of it, yeah.
Add in that there are a lot of illegal drivers- one of the guys I served with was 25, had been driving since he was 14, and had never been legal before that point– and that there's public transportation available (another guy, nearly thirty, hadn't had once since he joined at 21) and folks just don't see the point.
I do think the hassle of driving makes it not worthwhile, as well– some days *I* don't want to bother with all the BS and people who just…can't…drive! (Don't get me started on the really stupid PSAs that fail probability forever. Remember that old joke about the rednecks who heard that 90% of accidents happen within ten miles of home…so they moved twenty miles?)
March 14, 2012 at 2:53 am
I'm in my mid-twenties and lack a driver's license despite growing up in the Midwest, where driving as a teen is a rite of passage. My thoughts were that I had more interesting things to do and that my freedom wasn't defined by the ability to drive or leave home whenever I wanted (to use language my friends often used). I could take the bus to school or carpool with a friend (always helping to pay). I could bike to work. I worked weekends during the school year and was busy with extracurriculars and sports during the week. During the summer, I worked five or six days a week and when I was home, if I wasn't helping out there I wanted to relax, be outside, or get ready for college. During college there was no time to learn and I was in a different state. My social life in high school was perhaps affected, but only on the weekends.
Now, although I'm continuing my studies in a major metropolitan area in which a car is not necessary, I wish I had my license. It makes adult life easier, not to mention might allowed me to be more generous in helping friends and less dependant on their generosity. But at least I've managed to save money on a grad student salary and I've probably stayed healthier than I might have since I've had to bike or walk when I might have driven. I'll be taking care of it as soon as I can, since being able to drive is important for raising a family.
March 14, 2012 at 3:54 am
Well, as a member of this generation (23 years old, recent college grad, living at home) I have to comment.
Want to know why so much of us are in this situation? Because we have to be. There are some slackers in every generation, sure, and maybe it is easier to be a slacker with all the comforts of modern living, but that sure doesn't describe me.
I took out student loans and worked two jobs to help cover the tuition of my private university 3000 miles away from home. I studied abroad, worked in the British Parliament, interned at the State Department, went to conferences, finished a thesis paper, held leadership positions in my Fraternity, and still made it to Mass every Sunday. I am definitely NOT a slacker, and I wasn't the kind of person who was supposed to get "stuck."
But the job market was horrible. It took me about 6 months to find a job, and staying at home for a few more months helps me pay off my student loans. I look forward to getting out as soon as I can. Do you REALLY think its easy for a 23 year old to spend almost a year with his parents around? Its no cakewalk.
But, you know what, I get it. My generation is the end result of the policies your generation and the generations before that have put in place. My generation is the end result of the culture built by those before it.
Why work? We're paying so much of our money in taxes to support older generations who wanted to retire in their 50s and 60s on my dime. And its not like any of those benefits will be around for me.
Why move out and pay rent? Shouldn't things like contraception, healthcare, and housing be free? I mean, isn't that fair? Isn't it my right?
Why work hard to advance myself? If the government wants to take care of me, let 'em. And hey, parents are like government, too, right?
There's some people who really are slackers, but most of us are actually stuck. Stuck in a situation we didn't create, don't like, and want out of.
March 14, 2012 at 4:10 am
Huh?
Darwin is commenting about modes of transportation type "getting out" in our generation.
The only mention of "slacker" is your comment.
FYI, every generation has to deal with the end policies of the one before it, if not the one before that. We're not the "end result," we're just the current result. I've already got two members of the next generation, and don't plan on stopping there.
March 14, 2012 at 4:11 am
Bah, Patrick, not Darwin.
March 14, 2012 at 5:44 am
The peice wasn't just about driving, it was about living at home, moving away, and generally "moving on."
My comment is in keeping with the general tone of the peice and the comments made about it.
Do you have anything substantive to say about my points, or were you just excited about trying to catch me making a mistake?
March 14, 2012 at 3:46 pm
Get back to me when you make some substantive points instead of talking about how tough things are and putting words in other folks' mouths.
March 14, 2012 at 4:14 am
I had no interest at that age either, and it has turned out fine. I was destined to either be self-motivated or not motivated at all — so because there was little I desired, I had no job, and with no job, no car (my first job was actually one I could walk to). When I needed and wanted to pay for stuff myself, the job followed, and when I couldn't walk, the car.
I moved to another state to get a higher degree, and was glad to have a change then, but in all fairness, the idea of moving at a time like this is frankly terrifying. To leave this network of contacts and connections I've invested several years in developing seems downright foolish.
March 14, 2012 at 3:52 pm
I lived at home until I got married because it was too expensive not to.
The government is taking roughly half my paycheck.
I'm just fortunate my parents were able to help me in college so I'm not saddled with a gargantuan student loan.
I have to pay a lot to drive a car, between insurance and car payments, if I lived close enough to bike to work I probably would have.