Since leaving college Felicite has changed jobs more than once a year. The 26-year-old Parisian--who didn't want her full name used in case it was seen by her current employ-ers--tends to switch for "excitement" rather than money. Indeed, whenever her latest job doesn't pay enough for her to rent an apartment, she simply moves back into her parents' home in the suburbs. Her latest plan: to quit her position in advertising for hu-manitarian work overseas. "I'm still young!" she says. "I just want to have fun in my job."

大學畢業後，菲莉瑟每年不只換一次工作。這位26歲的巴黎人，不願透露全名，以免被目前的上司看到。她換工作多半不是嫌錢少，而是為了「刺激」。的確，每當她新的工作所得不足以付公寓房租時，她就乾脆搬回郊區父母家住。她最近計畫辭去廣告公司職位，到海外從事人道救援工作。她說：「我還年輕！我只想從工作中找樂子。」

Felicite is emblematic of a growing trend. Around the developed world, more and more twentysomethings are staying home with their moms and dads so they can pursue their interests instead of worrying about secure jobs that will pay off mortgages. In France, for example, some 65 percent of peo-ple in their mid-20s are still living with their parents--double the pro-portion that stayed in the nest in 1975. The upside, for the children at least, is obvious: more young people feeling free to do work--both paid and vol-unteer--that they love.

菲莉瑟是個日益明顯的趨勢的象徵。在已開發國家中，愈來愈多廿來歲的年輕人和爸媽同住，以便追尋他們的興趣，而不用擔心是否有個安全有保障的工作，可以付得起房貸。以法國為例，約65%廿五、六歲的年輕人仍和父母同住，是1975年留巢未飛者的兩倍。從好的一面看，至少對孩子而言，是很明顯的：更多年輕人覺得可以自由自在做他們愛做的工作，不管是有給職還是義工。

But now social commentators are starting to wonder how long tomor-row's leaders can keep living in a Pe-ter Pan Never-Never Land. The oldest Gen Y-ers turn 30 next year, and large swathes still haven't gotten stable careers, had kids or moved out of their childhood bedrooms. The question is: Will they be able to cope when they finally do Sociologist Jean Twenge, author of last year's tome on the selfishness of today's twentysome-things, "Generation Me," predicts, "Sometime soon there is going to be a day of reckoning."

但現在社會分析家開始懷疑，明日的領袖可以繼續住在小飛俠彼得潘的夢幻島多久。Ｙ世代年紀最長的明年將滿卅歲，但還有一大堆人迄未有穩定的事業，也沒有孩子或搬離童年的臥房。問題是：當他們終將獨當一面時，能否處之泰然？社會學家、美國心理學博士珍‧特吉在她的著作《Me世代：年輕人的處境與未來》中預言，「清算的日子即將到來。」

Regional studies yield more spe-cific data: in America 28 percent of 22-to-29-year-olds rely on money from their parents to fund "major ex-penses." In Britain half of people un-der 30 get help from their parents for first-home deposits--up from just 10 percent a decade ago. "Lots of baby boomers are deciding not to retire and using their money to lift their kids out of falling into the lower brackets of society," says Richard Jones, deputy head of HSBC's retirement businesses. 區域性研究提供更多明確的資訊：在美國，有百分之廿八22到29歲的年輕人靠父母資助「主要的日常開銷」。在英國則有一半卅歲以下的成年人仍接受父母幫助支付頭期房貸，十年前還只有十分之一。匯豐銀行主管退休企業的副主管瓊斯說：「很多嬰兒潮世代決定不退休，並用賺來的錢拉拔孩子以免淪落到社會較低階層。」

Because of this safety net, it's not surprising that Gen-Yers have much more relaxed priorities than their money-motivated Gen X and baby boomer predecessors. In a study re-leased this summer, global employ-ment agency Manpower found that across the developed world, un-der-30s would overwhelmingly rather "pursue their passions" than "make lots of money," with 73 per-cent of young Spaniards and two-thirds of Americans and Canadi-ans backing that statement. Likewise, a recent Europe-wide survey from Stockholm-based Universum found that work-life balance is now the single most popular career goal among university graduates, ahead of high pay.

由於這層安全網，Ｙ世代優先考慮的目標，比他們金錢掛帥的Ｘ世代和嬰兒潮世代前輩要輕鬆的多。今夏一項研究顯示，全球知名人力資源公司萬寶華發現，在已開發世界中，卅歲以下者壓倒性多數寧可「追尋他們的最愛」，也不願「賺很多錢」；有73%年輕的西班牙人和三分之二美國和加拿大人都持相同看法。同樣的，最近斯多哥爾摩Universum針對全歐洲所進行的一項調查發現，工作和生活維持均衡，而不是高薪，是現在大學畢業生唯一最熱中的事業目標。

But how much longer is Gen Y going to be able to keep relying on their aging parents to make this possi-ble The answer seems to be: not as long as they think. A British report from Fidelity International recently found that two-thirds of baby boomers say they plan to enjoy their lives by spending their savings and cashing in the equity in their homes. In short, they say, they are not wor-ried about leaving a legacy.

但Ｙ世代要做到這點，還能靠逐漸老邁的父母多久？答案似乎不像他們想像中那麼久。富達國際最近一份英國的報告發現，三分之二嬰兒潮世代說，他們將花光積蓄，同時變賣房屋產權，將現金落袋為安。一言以蔽之，他們無意留下任何遺產。

At the same time, employment ex-perts are concerned about Gen Y's a-bility to make the transition into the standard workforce, because of their adolescent attitudes. Mitchell Marks, an organizational psychologist at San Francisco State University, says he thinks that young people's reliance on their parents has resulted in a genera-tion that isn't capable of making adult decisions.

同時，由於Ｙ世代有如青少年不成熟的態度，就業專家擔心，他們是否能成功轉型為合乎標準的職場員工。舊金山州立大學機構心理學家馬克斯說，他認為年輕人太依賴父母，結果產生一個無法像成年人做決策的世代。

Still, today's twentysomethings aren't all that different from their parents. They're just doing things a little bit later. Instead of getting married at 23 (the 1970 average), American men are getting married at 27; and instead of 80 percent of American women leav-ing home by 24, now they're getting out by 29. "Thirty is the new 20," says Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, editor of last year's "Emerging Adults in Amer-ica." "The transition to adulthood is longer than it used to be, but it's still a temporary stage."

實則今天廿來歲的年輕人和他們父執輩沒有什麼太大的不同。他們只是大器晚成。美國男人不像1970年代平均23歲結婚，現在延到27歲才結婚；美國女人過去有80%在24歲前就離家，現在則延到29歲。去年「美國正要出頭的成年人」總編輯阿內特說：「過去的30歲就是現在的20歲。轉型為成年人的過程比過去久，但仍是暫時過渡階段。」（取材自10月16日網路版「新聞周刊」Emily Flynn Vencat 專欄〉

《詞解》
Narcissists 自戀狂

Neverland 樂土、烏托邦

humanitarian work 人道救援工作

twentysomethings 廿來歲年輕人

mortgage房貸

upside 好的一面

Peter Pan小飛俠彼得潘

Never-Never Land 夢幻島

Gen Y-ers ｙ世代

a day of reckoning

清算或大審判的日子

safety net 安全網

overwhelmingly壓倒性多數