Post Graduate Students Struggling to Pay Rent

 By: Bridget McCabe 

More college graduates are moving back home thanks to low salaries that don't cover soaring rent prices and other expenses. 

A new survey from TD Ameritrade found that 50% of young Millennials plan to move back home with their parents after college due to student debt, rising rent prices, and saving money.

Jobs are not paying nearly as much for recent grads to live on their own plus paying off loans and all the other payments they need to make.

“I have been living at home for about six months now and I have to commute to work three times a week, and it takes me almost two hours to get home,” said a recent Stonehill graduate, Andrew Conaty.

Conaty is an investment specialist at Skyeburst Wealth Management in Newton, Massachusetts. He is living in Barrington, Rhode Island with his parents to save money and pay off his student loans, but the commute is becoming too much of a hassle.

“I feel like I could be getting so much more done if I was closer to my work,” he said.

With gas at its all-time high recently, commuting by car is costly. But living close to work isn’t always a cost-saver.

“I am looking at places closer to work with a few of my friends, but everything is just so expensive right now,” he said.

“I was home for about a year and was working a few different jobs, then finally moved to Boston with a few of my roommates from college. The only reason I can afford the apartment I am in now is because one of my friend's families owns the building, so rent is cheaper for us,” said Hannah Langley, who graduated from Providence College.

According to TD Ameritrade, the national unemployment rate reached its all-time high in April 2020, reaching 14.4 percent. It went up 3.3 percent compared to the previous year. 

Recent college graduates are entering a tough work field, due to competition for jobs increasing and entry-level salaries decreasing.

Despite claims that jobs are going unfilled, finding work that pays enough to cover living expenses is tough.

Even getting an internship while in college is tough since companies are still in the process of rehiring past employees.

“I graduated in 2021 and I did not have a job lined up. Covid made it extremely difficult to find an internship and a job after school,” said Hannah Langley.

Kathy Steiger is the executive director of the Easton Housing Authority, the authority manages state-subsidized apartments for the disabled and elderly.

“There is a long line before you can get approved for state-subsidized apartments and allowing recent graduates to apply would make the wait even longer,” she said.

“The best advice I can give recent graduates is to find roommates to lower the monthly rent prices, learn to budget, and look for living outside of cities,” Steiger said.