An NBA player's surprising living arrangement is hitting home with lots of young people.

Evan Porter
07.20.16

NBA star Jeff Teague will make around $8.8 million this season. And he just moved into his parents' basement.

Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Teague, a first round pick of the Atlanta Hawks in 2009, has played seven seasons in the NBA. This offseason, though, he was traded to the Indiana Pacers —— not far from his hometown of Indianapolis, where he already owns a home.

The funny thing is, Teague gave the house to his parents a few years back since he was spending all his time in Atlanta. Now that he's back in town, he's moving back into the house — and he's not asking his parents to leave.

"They got the master, I just got the basement," he said in an interview on Fox Sports 97.5

When asked how long he expected to live with his folks, Teague said plainly, "The whole year." In response to this, the hosts jokingly asked if he had a curfew, a bedtime, or had to do chores.

You might expect a hot-shot athlete to quickly offer up some explanation for living at home, like I'm busy looking for a place, or It's only temporary.

But not Teague. He didn't seem fazed by the jokes, and he didn't offer to elaborate.

Teague isn't alone when it comes to living with family.

In fact, recent findings from Pew Research shows that for the first time in 130 years, living at home with parents is the most common living arrangement for 18-34-year-olds in America. And internationally, this kind of arrangement has been super common for a while.

Some people are quick to jump on data like this as evidence of a coddled generation unable to solve problems for themselves. Folks even call this generation the "boomerang generation" (as in, they always come back).

But there are a lot of other factors going on here, most of which have nothing to do with coddling or laziness. Here are a few:

1. Young people aren't rushing to commit to a romantic partner, and a lot will never get married.

Marriage is great and all, but it's not mandatory. Photo by Lê Düng/Flickr.

One big reason for the rise in young people living at home is that "romantic coupling" has seen a sharp decline: In other words, young people are waiting longer and longer to move in with spouses (if they ever do at all, and a lot aren't).

And for many single folks, living with family beats living alone.

2. Jobs that can pay enough to keep up with rising housing costs are hard to find.

While employment isn't a problem for Teague, a lot of young people live at home to stay afloat while looking for a job or trying to save as much of their paycheck as they can for a down payment on their own home. It sure doesn't help that housing costs have been on the rise for years.

Add in the fact that the average college graduate these days comes out of school with over $30,000 in student debt, and it just makes economic sense for some young people to live with their parents when they can.

3. Parents are living for a really long time and some need help.

They raised you! Helping out when they get older is the least you can do. Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

Some estimates say the number of adults caring for their aging parents has tripled in the past 15 years, which makes sense because life expectancy has been rising for decades.

This kind of care can be taxing for young adults; they may have to take time away from work, pay out of pocket for extra help, or even just spend a ton of time helping their parents with daily tasks.

Moving back home can help with affordability and convenience for people in this situation.

4. Some young people actually want to live at home.

In Psychology Today, Bella DePaulo, Ph.D., referenced one study that surveyed 18-24-year-olds who had never left their parents' homes. Most of them said part of the reason they stayed was because — gasp — they actually liked living there.

She also writes that there aren't major differences in life satisfaction between parents of adults who never left home, those who left and never came back, or those who have moved in and out over time. So maybe getting to spend a little extra time together in the same house isn't the worst thing in the world.

If a 28-year-old millionaire wants to live at home, maybe it's time for us to recognize that it's a perfectly acceptable choice for anyone.

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images.

What if, instead of valuing moving out on our own above all else, we valued people who grow up to be happy, empathetic, productive members of society ... even if they're doing all of that from their parents' basement?

In other words, if a situation works for you and your family: go for it! It's clearly working for the Teagues. We may not know exactly why or how their arrangement works, but Teague obviously doesn't feel like he owes anyone an explanation.

And that's the way it should be.

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Florida city forecloses on man's home after fining him $30,000 for not mowing his lawn.

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Should a man lose his home because the grass in his yard grew higher than 10 inches? The city of Dunedin, Florida seems to think so.

According to the Institute of Justice, which is representing Jim Ficken, he had a very good reason for not mowing his lawn – and tried to rectify the situation as best he could.

In 2014, Jim's mom became ill and he visited her often in South Carolina to help her out. When he was away, his grass grew too long and he was cited by a code office; he cut the grass and wasn't fined.

France has started forcing supermarkets to donate food instead of throwing it away.

But several years later, this one infraction would come back to haunt him after he left to take care of him's mom's affairs after she died. The arrangements he made to have his grass cut fell through (his friend who he asked to help him out passed away unexpectedly) and that set off a chain reaction that may result in him losing his home.

The 69-year-old retiree now faces a $29,833.50 fine plus interest. Watch the video to find out just what Jim is having to deal with.

Mow Your Lawn or Lose Your House! www.youtube.com

florida dunedin lawn mowing jim ficken
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Michelle Obama named 'most admired woman in the world,' because of course she is.

The world can't get enough Michelle.

Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

The world officially loves Michelle Obama.

The former first lady has overtaken the number one spot in a poll of the world's most admired women. Conducted by online research firm YouGov, the study uses international polling tools to survey people in countries around the world about who they most admire.

In the men's category, Bill Gates took the top spot, followed by Barack Obama and Jackie Chan.

In the women's category, Michelle Obama came first, followed by Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie. Obama pushed Jolie out of the number one spot she claimed last year.

Unsurprising, really, because what's not to love about Michelle Obama? She is smart, kind, funny, accomplished, a great dancer, a devoted wife and mother, and an all-around, genuinely good person.

She has remained dignified and strong in the face of rabid masses of so-called Americans who spent eight years and beyond insisting that she's a man disguised as a woman. She's endured non-stop racist memes and terrifying threats to her family. She has received far more than her fair share of cruelty, and always takes the high road. She's the one who coined, "When they go low, we go high," after all.

She came from humble beginnings and remains down to earth despite becoming a familiar face around the world. She's not much older than me, but I still want to be like Michelle Obama when I grow up.

Her memoir, Becoming, may end up being the best-selling memoir of all time, having already sold 10 million copies—a clear sign that people can't get enough Michelle, because there's no such thing as too much Michelle.

Don't like Michelle Obama? Don't care. Those of us who love her will fly our MO flags high and without apology, paying no mind to folks with cold, dead hearts who don't know a gem of a human being when they see one. There is nothing any hater can say or do to make us admire this undeniably admirable woman any less.

When it seems like the world has lost its mind—which is how it feels most days these days—I'm just going to keep coming back to this study as evidence that hope for humanity is not lost.

Here. Enjoy some real-life Michelle on Jimmy Kimmel. (GAH. WHY IS SHE SO CUTE AND AWESOME. I can't even handle it.)

Michelle & Barack Obama are Boring Now www.youtube.com

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France has started forcing supermarkets to donate food instead of throwing it away.

via EarthFix / Flickr

What will future generations never believe that we tolerated in 2019?

Dolphin and orca captivity, for sure. They'll probably shake their heads at how people died because they couldn't afford healthcare. And, they'll be completely mystified at the amount of food some people waste while others go starving.

According to Biological Diversity, "An estimated 40 percent of the food produced in the United States is wasted every year, costing households, businesses and farms about $218 billion annually."

There are so many things wrong with this.

First of all it's a waste of money for the households who throw out good food. Second, it's a waste of all of the resources that went into growing the food, including the animals who gave their lives for the meal. Third, there's something very wrong with throwing out food when one in eight Americans struggle with hunger.

Supermarkets are just as guilty of this unnecessary waste as consumers. About 10% of all food waste are supermarket products thrown out before they've reached their expiration date.

Three years ago, France took big steps to combat food waste by making a law that bans grocery stores from throwing away edible food.According to the new ordinance, stores can be fined for up to $4,500 for each infraction.

Previously, the French threw out 7.1 million tons of food. Sixty-seven percent of which was tossed by consumers, 15% by restaurants, and 11% by grocery stores.

This has created a network of over 5,000 charities that accept the food from supermarkets and donate them to charity. The law also struck down agreements between supermarkets and manufacturers that prohibited the stores from donating food to charities.

"There was one food manufacturer that was not authorized to donate the sandwiches it made for a particular supermarket brand. But now, we get 30,000 sandwiches a month from them — sandwiches that used to be thrown away," Jacques Bailet, head of the French network of food banks known as Banques Alimentaires, told NPR.

It's expected that similar laws may spread through Europe, but people are a lot less confident at it happening in the United States. The USDA believes that the biggest barrier to such a program would be cost to the charities and or supermarkets.

"The logistics of getting safe, wholesome, edible food from anywhere to people that can use it is really difficult," the organization said according to Gizmodo. "If you're having to set up a really expensive system to recover marginal amounts of food, that's not good for anybody."

Plus, the idea may seem a little too "socialist" for the average American's appetite.

"The French version is quite socialist, but I would say in a great way because you're providing a way where they [supermarkets] have to do the beneficial things not only for the environment, but from an ethical standpoint of getting healthy food to those who need it and minimizing some of the harmful greenhouse gas emissions that come when food ends up in a landfill," Jonathan Bloom, the author of American Wasteland, told NPR.

However, just because something may be socialist doesn't mean it's wrong. The greater wrong is the insane waste of money, damage to the environment, and devastation caused by hunger that can easily be avoided.

Planet

Single dad asks his daughters for fashion advice before a date and strangers on social media responded with some helpful suggestions.

The world is dark and full of terrors, but every once in a while it graces us with something to warm our icy-cold hearts. And that is what we have today, with a single dad who went viral on Twitter after his daughter posted the photos he sent her when trying to pick out and outfit for his date. You love to see it.




After seeing these heartwarming pics, people on Twitter started suggesting this adorable man date their moms. It was essentially a mom and date matchmaking frenzy.

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