Recent Brandeis graduate Oren Barouch loosened his shirt and took off his tie as he walked out of a cool mid-Manhattan Bank into the mid-August heat. After his seventh job interview of the summer - he had lost count - Barouch's face showed no sign of frustration or uncertainty with the foreboding prospect that "honestly, there's nothing out there!" But should this last attempt mirror his resignation, Barouch only stands to lose his high spirits and not his place of residence, which he currently shares rent-free with his parents.Barouch is part of a new breed of an old stereotype: the townie. The derogatory term for a young adult who remains at home during the budding years of his independence typically brings to mind a sluggish, chip-eating TV-addict enjoying a mid-day nap on the living room couch. And while Americans were humored by this lifestyle on "Married with Children," a real life Bud Bundy is invariably branded a loser.

But in the tide of economic distress, the steadily growing population of out-of-work college graduates has de-stigmatized the negative "townie" image, if not broken from it all together. The number of adult children living at home has creeped up in the past few years, after a five-year fall during the mid to late 90s. According to the U.S. Census Beureau, 12.9 percent of males between the ages of 24 and 34 lived with their parents in 2000 compared to 13.6 percent who do so today. The change for women of the same age was similar although more gradual. A scope of the past twenty years outlines a more dramatic pattern with a 3.1 percent increase in stay-at-home males and a less notable 1.3 percent rise of stay-at-home females. The numbers are far more notable for adult children of 18 to 24. While 57.1 percent of the men lived at home in 2000, only 54.3 percent did so in 1980. At 42.7 percent in 1980, women 'townies' increased by 5 percent by 2000.

For Barouch and so many others, living at home is not an act of laziness or indecision, but of realism. "I knew that I wasn't going to be able to move out. I needed to save up some money first," Barouch said. "As much as I wanted to go out live on my own in the city and be with friends, the money just wasn't there and you have to think practically about it." As reflected by the Census Bureau, Barouch attributes his situation to the weakened economy. "If it was 1989 or 2000 and you were pulling 60,70, 80K in your first year, then maybe you could go live in the city, but now you're lucky to get 40K."



Shortfalls of a Brandeis degree

Fresh out of Brandeis with a degree in History and Economics and a minor in international business, Barouch was just as practical but far more optimistic about his opportunities in the field of finance. "I accepted that I would go home for a little bit. For a while I assumed that it would only be for a few weeks and by August I'd have enough money to move out."

Perhaps Barouch was reminiscing of the $70,000 and up starting salaries of only several years ago, but upon entering the real world, he was also entering the tightest job market since the recession of the early 90s. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of unemployed 20 to 24 years olds has risen 60 percent in the past four years, up to a whopping 1.4 million.

"The problem with this competition is because there are so few positions, they can really look for the exact person they want," Barouch said. "The entry level positions really aren't entry level, they're entry level plus one."

Beyond the temperamental economy and cutthroat competition, Brandeis University is also a culprit. Majoring in business or economics in a liberal arts University that stresses theory rather than technicalities may be pedagogically esteemed and personally gratifying, but less practical in the for-profit job market of the real world. "You look at an economics major at Brandeis and honestly, there isn't a lot of finance," Barouch said. "I walked into interviews and they asked, 'Ok do you know how to program in visual basic or run these regressions.' I confessed that this is something we just never learned, and hoped to pick up along the way. They just looked at me funny."

A loyal alumnus to the last, Barouch still prefers the conceptually rich education he received at Brandeis. "You have to know the theory and be able to talk clearly about it, and not just punch out numbers,"he said. "I feel like I know just as much theory as anyone out there, and maybe more. And after all, economics and especially Understanding Wall Street is mostly psychological."

"And it's only because of my major that I can turn on CNN and understand 100% more stuff than I knew before. I can talk to people about politics and tax cuts and it blows their minds. But on Wall Street, no one cares if you could write anymore, they just want you to crunch numbers."

Only a summer ago Barouch interned in San Francisco for the Bank of National Securities, a prestigious position that at that time taught finance specific math skills rather than required them. One year later, fluently knowing projections and regressions has become the status quo. In June, Barouch had one particularly nightmarish interview at Jefferies and Co, an investment Bank in Stanford, Conn. "They lambasted me with every finance I could have ever learned at any school, formulas, motos, it was terrible. I just walked out thinking 'I obviously didn't' get this, bye."

With more applicants for fewer jobs, graduates are accepting positions well below their qualifications. "You just keep getting squeezed down. The MBAs can't get jobs in their areas so they take undergrad jobs. I actually saw an add for an investment bank which read 3.7 gpa, Harvard or Yale preferred, I mean these people have jobs already! Honestly, at this point, I'll take anything," Barouch said.



Next best thing

As college grads return to the nest and flood the job market with over-qualified resumes, desperate 'townies' find other outlets for productivity. Continuing education, volunteering and even unconventional business ventures are opted for as a practical and gratifying use of otherwise idle time. Despite recent cuts to AmeriCorps, its beneficiary Teach for America received 9,000 more applications this year than the 5,000 in 2001. Many of those who can't work but don't want to volunteer chose graduate school instead. This year alone, graduate school applications have risen 15 percent.

As for the financial commitment which graduate school requires, Barouch subscribes to the theory that the spruced up resume will more than pay for itself in the long run. "I started studying for GMATs and I see that if the economy stays anywhere near like this, you're going to need those extra skills, an extra degree and you need something to separate yourself,"he said. "I've gotten to the point were I know I'm going to business school eventually, which I thought would be three or four years away, and now I'm thinking next year. And if the economy picks up a little bit, it will be that much easier to go."

"I'm glad that I am in New York, so that I can at least take advantage of it. Business school is an investment. Opportunity cost of going now is a lot less. I'm not giving up 80K to go, I'm giving up nothing. It seems that now is the best time to do it. If I'm only making 30, 40K and can't move out, or can but am living hand to mouth, that's really the best time to go. The sooner you get out, the sooner you get that advanced degree. Business schools these days want people that are ready and need a degree from something specific, finding a job."



The new townie

Sociologists call them the yoyo children or Boomerang generation, the judgmental public calls them townies, but Barouch and many of his peers call them, or themselves, a common and destigmatized victim of the economy. "A lot of people are living at home, even those who do have jobs and are just not being paid enough to move out," he said. "Some friends from my high school who graduated before me and they stayed home, saved up like 30K dollars and now they can move out,"he continued. "I have an older sister who worked, lived at home for a year but didn't save up enough money. Now she's living hand to mouth and doesn't have that cushion that you usually get from living at home."

For every college student that looked at townies with an unshakable "that's never going to happen to me"attitude, the current shift in the economy will reflect a shift in the culture. "Now that everyone knows someone who's living at home, but working, studying and saving up money meanwhile, the image of the guy who sits in the basement and doesn't do anything will no longer apply."The new breed of townies aren't the ones who live at home because they can't get jobs and aren't smart enough: they can, there's just nothing out there."

"But I don't think we'll see many people here for too long. Most people who want to move out will get a job, long before they're 26 or 27. These people just see this as something that has to happen. They have to stay at home and work and save up money. And they're gonna do it as long as they have to, they'll get up put their suit on and go back home, and that's just something they have to do.