Alice: Hello! I’m Alice and this is 6 Minute English…and thanks to Rob for
joining me today! Hello Rob.
Rob: Hello Alice.
Alice: Now, Rob we’re talking about something that most people have to do
at some point in their lives – leave home…
Rob: Some people can’t wait to leave home and become independent, but
plenty more would be happy to stay living with their parents and
family at home.
Alice: Many countries have legal limits for the age somebody can leave
home. In the UK you can drive a car at 17, buy alcohol and vote at the
age of 18. But what age can you leave home with your parents
permission?
Is it:
a. 18
b. 17
c. 16
Rob: I think you can get married at 16 can’t you? So is it 16?
Alice: I’m not telling you yet. We’ll find out the correct answer at the end of
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010
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the programme. What’s interesting is how more and more people are
staying at home longer in the UK. There’s even a word for it – it’s
called the boomerang generation.
Rob: A boomerang as in the Australian tool that comes back to you when
you throw it?
Alice: Exactly! You should be able to see a photo of one on our website. The
boomerang generation are young people who leave home to go to
University but then return to live with their parents when they’ve
finished their studies.
Rob: So they leave home but come back to their parents again after studying.
And how long do they stay with their parents after they’ve finished
University?
Alice: It varies – but the latest official figures show that the number of
graduates returning home after University has increased by a third in
the last 20 years. Here’s the BBC’s Tim Muffett:
Extract 1
The boomerang generation is booming. According to the Office for National Statistics,
around 15% of female graduates move back home. For male graduates the figure is
22%, that’s an increase of almost a third in twenty years, and with a lack of jobs for the
class of 2010 the numbers are expected to rise.
Alice: The boomerang generation is booming!
Rob: Do we know why so many more students are returning to live at home?
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Alice: Most of the reasons are economic – students are finding it difficult to
get jobs after they finish their studies so they can’t afford to pay for
their own place to live.
Rob: I imagine it depends on where you choose to live – some students do a
house or flat-share where they can split the rent with other young
people.
Alice: But some students have such big debts after paying for University they
can’t afford to do a house or flat-share with other people. It’s easier to
go home to their parents and try and save some money! The BBC’s
Tim Muffett went to meet recent graduate Kate and her mother Janice.
Kate’s had to move back in with her parents after leaving University.
Extract 2
KATE: I lost my independence because at University you get to do what you want to do
– and not be regimented by what you watch on the television.
MUM: we lost our privacy, because suddenly there is somebody else in the house. We
wouldn’t sling her out, much as we’d like to sometimes.
TIM: Are your relieved to hear that?
KATE: yeah!
Alice: Kate’s complaining that she’s lost her independence. At University
she got to do what she wanted.
Rob: She says she could watch what she wanted on TV – it wasn’t
regimented
Alice: regimented – that’s a military term meaning there are strict rules
that have to be followed – like a regiment.
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Rob: What about her parents?
Alice: Let’s listen again to what Kate’s mum Janice said:
MUM: we lost our privacy, because suddenly there is somebody else in the house. We
wouldn’t sling her out, much as we’d like to sometimes.
Alice: Kate’s mum Janice says she has lost her privacy because suddenly
there’s someone else in the house.
Rob: I hope she’s joking when she says ‘we wouldn’t sling her out’!
Alice: I hope she is joking – she wouldn’t really ask her daughter Kate to
leave the family home! Let’s hear from one more person today. This is
Professor of Sociology, Gill Jones, who’s been speaking to lots of
young people about returning home after University. She thinks life for
the boomerang generation is very difficult:
Extract 3
If young people can’t become independent when they are technically adult then it
creates all sorts of problems, about what does it mean to be adult – are young people
willing to defer adulthood and what are parents taking on when they have children?
How long are they going to be responsible for them?
Alice: Young people are technically adult – they’re officially adults
because they can vote, get married and live on their own but
because they’re having to return home there can be problems.
Rob: Professor Gill Jones says they have to defer adulthood
Alice: That means they have to wait til they leave home again before they can
really feel like adults.
Rob: And parents are having to be responsible for children for many more
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years than they expected.
Alice: Which brings me to the question I asked earlier. What is the legal age
for children to be allowed to leave home in the UK? Was it:
a 18
b. 17
c. 16
Rob: I’m guessing 16?
Alice: You’re right. You can also get married at age 16 if you have your
parents’ permission in the UK. Shall we have a quick re-cap of the
vocabulary we’ve come across today:
Rob: leave home
independent
legal limit
boomerang
booming
house or flat-share
debts
regimented
technically
adulthood
Well that’s all we’ve got time for today. Thanks for joining us and see
you next time. Bye!
