2008 grads discover that the road to the future leads to mom and dad's front door

According to a recent study by MonsterTRAK, the student-oriented division of Monster.com, almost half of the recent crop of college graduates are planning to move back home. This is hardly surprising, given the fact that the job market has stagnated, the cost of living has soared, and inflation has rendered many entry-level salaries insufficient to support the average Newfoundland puppy, much less an actual human being.

While it's surprising that 48% of the class of 2008 has elected to trade a dorm room for a bedroom, what's particularly telling about MonsterTRAK's poll is its information about the class of 2007.

While a comparatively small 22% of that class originally planned to move home for more than six months, a whopping 43% are currently sleeping in their old beds. It would be all too easy to pick on the latest crop of millennial graduates, pointing out their inability to cut the umbilical cord. However, the simple fact of the matter is that the current economic downturn is transforming independent living from a rite of passage into an almost unaffordable luxury.

Grad school to the rescue!

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. The idea that grad school is the only solution for a depressed job market is ridiculous. There's also the Peace Corps.