Have you heard of the Korean term "kangaroos," used to refer to the younger generation that depends on their parents financially and emotionally despite being grownups? In a recent survey, 30.8 percent of men and 41.9 percent of women admitted they were "kangaroos." About 70 percent of them said they still receive financial support from their parents, including housing costs and allowances, and that they were unable to be independent because "they couldn't afford the cost of living."

These days, the majority of young people in the United States are living with their parents amid the severe downturn due to the coronavirus pandemic. This number is higher than the 48 percent of the 1920s during the Great Depression or the mere 29 percent of the 1960s. Many young people find themselves unable to afford tuition, housing, and medical expenses. Job insecurity and wage cuts make them into "boomerangers [1]" who depend on their parents more than any other previous generations had.

With the recent phenomenon of financially supporting grown-up children, parents are worried about the security of their own lives after retirement. Mocking [2] jokes like, "Unless financially strong, parents cannot expect respect from their grown-up children," "to the eyes of the younger generation, parents are no more than a purse in arm’s reach," and "the younger generation just doesn’t try hard enough to be independent" are mounting social concerns.