Teaching the Entitled Young More than Just Finances
posted on: Thursday, August 13, 2009
By Muzna Ansari
A recent article by Paul Sullivan in The New York Times cited the feeling of entitlement many young, wealthy adults feel and consequently, their parents’ apprehension in light of the recession. The article posits the question, “How can parents help children with a healthy sense of entitlement adjust to the new economic reality?” It proceeds to offer recommendations ranging from emotional reassurance to financial planning. Specifically, the article highlights instilling values of financial responsibility in young adults that would have been inheritors of wealth, sans the economic recession.
While teaching the current and next generations the importance of earning money and spending responsibly (to ideally avoid future financial crises), the current recession gives us a golden opportunity for deeper evaluation. If the parents of affluent young adults are concerned for their children’s futures, what can be said about those on the opposite end of the economic spectrum? Limited career opportunities for those on the highest levels of the ladder hint at far greater restrictions for those on the lower rungs. The U.S. Census Bureau found that the national poverty level in 2007 was 12.5%; with such a high pre-recession statistic, we can only imagine what poverty levels are during and will be following the recession.
Ultimately, the crisis we are engulfed in allows us to step back and critically re-assess the very society we live in. While parents may focus on teaching their offspring more effective ways to spend money during recessionary times, they also can think critically about training their children to lead lives of significance that extend beyond individual consumption. Philanthropy is a key part of such a re-assessment. Whether or not these young adults will one day inherit or earn considerable amounts of wealth, they can always make a difference in the world around them. Instilling financial principles is one part of a larger moral project: one where young adults learn that what they contribute will be far more important than what they consume.
Labels: philanthropy, poverty, recession, young inheritors of wealth
By Muzna Ansari
A recent article by Paul Sullivan in The New York Times cited the feeling of entitlement many young, wealthy adults feel and consequently, their parents’ apprehension in light of the recession. The article posits the question, “How can parents help children with a healthy sense of entitlement adjust to the new economic reality?” It proceeds to offer recommendations ranging from emotional reassurance to financial planning. Specifically, the article highlights instilling values of financial responsibility in young adults that would have been inheritors of wealth, sans the economic recession.
While teaching the current and next generations the importance of earning money and spending responsibly (to ideally avoid future financial crises), the current recession gives us a golden opportunity for deeper evaluation. If the parents of affluent young adults are concerned for their children’s futures, what can be said about those on the opposite end of the economic spectrum? Limited career opportunities for those on the highest levels of the ladder hint at far greater restrictions for those on the lower rungs. The U.S. Census Bureau found that the national poverty level in 2007 was 12.5%; with such a high pre-recession statistic, we can only imagine what poverty levels are during and will be following the recession.
Ultimately, the crisis we are engulfed in allows us to step back and critically re-assess the very society we live in. While parents may focus on teaching their offspring more effective ways to spend money during recessionary times, they also can think critically about training their children to lead lives of significance that extend beyond individual consumption. Philanthropy is a key part of such a re-assessment. Whether or not these young adults will one day inherit or earn considerable amounts of wealth, they can always make a difference in the world around them. Instilling financial principles is one part of a larger moral project: one where young adults learn that what they contribute will be far more important than what they consume.
Labels: philanthropy, poverty, recession, young inheritors of wealth
posted by NCRP at
3:54 PM
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