Category Archives: Media appearances

Setting rules for boomerang kids: Sun News Network

Today, Sun News Network has published an in-depth article on how to prepare for boomerang kids to come home, based on my advice:

“There’s a fine line between helping and helping too much, at which point it becomes very easy for your adult child to become dependent on you and not develop the skills they need to become independent,” Christina Newberry of Vancouver says. She’s the founder of AdultChildrenLivingatHome.com and author of The Hands-On Guide to Surviving Adult Children Living at Home.

She offers these tips…

You can read the rest at Sun News Network.

My advice featured on Forbes.com

From “The Kids Move Back In: Secrets to Saving Your Sanity (Hint: Cash)” by Vanessa McGrady:

“The short answer is that there is no one approach that works for every family. That said, I do think it’s important for all adult children to make a regular financial contribution to the household , for a couple of reasons,” said Christina Newberry, an expert on adult children living at home. “First, it acknowledges that the parent is taking on extra costs to have them there. Second, it keeps the adult child in the mindset of having a monthly financial responsibility, which is how things will be once the adult child is out on their own. And third, it’s actually good for the adult child’s self-esteem when they feel like a contributing member of the household.”

Read the rest at Forbes.com

My interview with Bill Good on CKNW 980

It was an honour this morning to visit the studios of CKNW 980 for a one-on-one interview with one of BC’s most respected broadcasters, Bill Good. We had a great talk about how families should prepare when adult children move back home, and we took a few calls from families dealing with this situation — including one father who said his wife has delayed retirement so they can keep paying their adult children’s rent. Yikes! If you missed the interview, click below to listen online to my interview with Bill Good on adult children living at home.

Finding jobs on Kijiji and living with parents: An article on Yahoo.ca

I was quoted Friday in an article about adult children living at home for Yahoo.ca:

“The relationship between parents and their children has really changed over the last generation. Where parents are now seen much less as disciplinarian figures,” says Christina Newberry, author of The Hands-On Guide to Surviving Adult Children Living at Home. “Parents are seen more as peers so the idea of going back and living with your parents is not so bad.”

Read the rest at Yahoo.ca.

Who should pay for college tuition?

My advice was featured today in an article by allParenting:

Christina Newberry is the author of The Hands-On Guide to Surviving Adult Children Living at Home and founder of the site Adult Children Living at Home. She says, “I paid my own college tuition through scholarships and part-time jobs and my parents took care of most of my housing expenses for the first two years. While what I did would likely not be possible with current tuition rates, I am a firm believer that it’s a good idea for kids to have a financial stake in their college education by paying at least some of their own 
tuition. Having some ‘skin in the 
game’ helps them take their years at school more seriously and feel a
 sense of ownership for their education. Similarly, if students are living 
with their parents to save money while attending school, I recommend they
 pay some kind of rent — even if it’s only a token amount or if the payment comes in the form of doing extra chores around the house. This all helps with the 
transition from childhood to adulthood and starts to create realistic 
expectations about what’s required to survive in the real world.”

Read the rest of the story at allParenting.com

Planning for your adult child's return home

My advice was featured today in EverythingZoomer.com’s Boomerangst column, which dealt with a family whose adult son is contemplating a move home after several months of unemployment:

“It’s tempting to think that everything’s going to go really smoothly, but that rarely happens by itself,” says Christina Newberry, founder of the website adultchildrenlivingathome.com and the author of The Hands-on Guide to Surviving Adult Children Living at Home.

You can read the rest of the article, including my advice about two documents every family should put together before adult kids move home, here.

Is it harder for young adults to find jobs than it was a decade ago?

Yesterday, I was a guest on CBC Radio’s national Cross Country Checkup program, which tackled the issue of whether it’s harder for young adults to find jobs than it was a decade ago – and what that means in terms of getting them launched into independence. It was an interesting program, and I found myself wishing I could jump in at many parts of the show, not just in the segment in which I was interviewed.

To the mom who said she was anticipating one of her three kids was likely to boomerang home because 26% of young adults do so, I wanted to say she might want to prepare for two of them: In Canada, the actual number of young people aged 20-29 living at home according to the most recent census is 42.3%. (It varies across the country, of course. In Toronto, which has the most adult children living at home, the number is actually 56.3%)

I had a great twitter interaction with Sumaiya Ahmed, who took some ribbing from guest host Suhana Meharchand for suggesting parents should help their adult children network to find a job. It turns out we agree that parents can be a positive force in their children’s job search, but that it’s also possible to take that help too far.

I wanted to talk to some of the young people who called in saying that it was just too hard to find work that was fulfilling, and that they were giving up high-paying jobs (and expecting financial help from their parents) to pursue opportunities that better aligned with their dreams. I wanted to tell them that pursing your dreams is certainly a worthwhile endeavor, but that in your thirties it’s not your parents job to pay for it (it can be financially challenging for them, too), and sometimes your job will simply not be the source of your life’s fulfilment. Certainly the jobs you have to take on to build experience in the early stages of your career are likely to be less than you’d dreamed. But you need to build experience and gain skills that provide value to an employer before you have the bargaining power to craft your dream career.

All of that to say that if you missed the show, you can listen to it here. My segment begins at about 1:16:00.

Today's CBC Radio Cross Country Checkup is all about adult kids living at home

This afternoon’s Cross Country Checkup call-in show tackles the issue of adult children living at home — and whether it’s harder for young people today to find a job. The show airs 4-6 p.m. Eastern time (1-3 Pacific). I’ll be on in the second hour of the program. You can find more information about the show and get the phone number to call in here.

The Nest that Doesn't Empty: Article in the Deseret News

“People make a lot of assumptions about how it’s going to work, and expectations can lead to a lot of challenges, especially if the children have a different perception of what staying at home is going to be like,” said Christina Newberry, Vancouver, Canada, author of “The Hands-On Guide to Surviving Adult Children Living at Home.”

“Parents may be focused on trying to get the children out of the house and the children may not be aware of that. Once you’re an adult, the goal is to get out of your parents’ home. So the conversation is why you’re at home and the steps needed to achieve independence. You should also discuss expectations in terms of how to behave when at home.”

Read the rest in the Deseret News.

A chat with Claudia Lonow, creator of "How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life)"

Yesterday, I got to chat with Claufia Lonow, creator of “How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life),” a new ABC series starring Sarah Chalke, Elizabeth Perkins, and Brad Garrett. We were on HuffPost Live together, and it was great to have a chance to hear about her really positive experience living with her parents. (The short version: She has lived with them for about 18 years and has no plans to move out — but several years ago they all bought a house together, so she’s certainly paying her own way.)

Here are a couple of shots from the show.

HuffPo2-1

HuffP02-2(with Claudia and host Nancy Redd)

If you missed the segment, you can watch it anytime here.