From Mark Steyn today...discussing the new Obamacare provision allowing children up to and including the age of 26 to remain on their parent's insurance. I referenced the craziness of this previously, but Steyn explained today many countries with a nationalized health care system have provisions like this, which may have directly or indirectly caused a delayed "growing up" of sorts. The existence is such that these late 20's and 30-somethings still living at home have a name...in Japan, Germany, etc. But my favorite?
In the UK it's "KIPPERS"
Kids In Parents Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings
By the time I was 26 I had been married a few years...(I won't tell you how long so you won't know how young I really was).
By 26, I'd had my first baby, a house, a college degree, a career, a husband...and, (gasp!) my own health coverage.
(accomplishments not listed in any particular order)
What had you accomplished by the age of 26?
Should we consider raising the legal age to 26? What about voting age, drinking age, age of consent etc.
Our government continues to underestimate the capabilities of our youth. Growing up is scary. I can remember being apprehensive about such responsibilities when I was headed to college, but getting started, making phone calls, and hashing out decisions is half the battle. We must force our kids to be a little uncomfortable...the uneasiness is how they learn.
Well said Charise - I am currently 26 and am quite proud of the accomplishments I've made in my life since leaving the nest... a Bachelor's degree, one handsome husband, two beautiful sons, 4 years of medical school supporting my husband, among MANY other things. How could I have done all that without being considered an adult and being gently forced to start making life's big decisions?... yes, including health care.
ReplyDeleteI celebrated my 26th birthday,at my parents' house in California; we were in limbo. Both done with college. I had finished a couple years before him. We had a two year old boy, I had been working to put my husband through school but recently quit because husband was graduated, we were moving, he had a job offer, but not a start date, and we were homeless for a couple months. My Dad told me, "You are not home-less, you just don't have a house to put it in yet." Did I mention I was pregnant and sick as a really-sick-dog and if I had been in my own place with a two year old I would have died without help? We had to have insurance. I had an emergency room visit. We had COBRA that we continued to pay from my previous employer. How did we afford the COBRA cost? Husband did odd jobs and earned what he could until he started working his first real career a couple weeks after my 26th birthday.
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