Zov · Today 17:09
Nope. Not in the real world. Most 18 year olds do not have their own car ... 🙄
Well the world I'm in is pretty real. We are talking about 6 years ago so not the 1950s or anything.
My eldest son (DS1) began an apprenticeship at age 16, but he needed a driver’s license to perform his job properly. The day after he passed his driving test, he was already behind the wheel of the company vans.
Son 2 worked on remote farms with no access to public transport, having his own car was essential. He wasn't alone in this; many of his peers also owned cars before they turned 20."
Oh come on! The situation your son was in at 18 is not likely to be that way for the vast majority of 18 year olds. I can count on the fingers of one hand the amount of teenagers I have ever known who have their own CAR. I can count on one hand the number of young people in boths sons social group that didnt pass their test before the age of 20! Most young people can't even get a bloody driving test for half a year these days! And if they fail, they have to wait another half a year for another test! And the vast majority of people I know (under 40 especially) certainly didn't leave school at 16. (As you say your older son did.)
*Ds leaving school wasn't my choice and we argued a lot about it at the time but I couldn't force him to go to college. I didnt want him to leave education but he got an apprenticeship and excelled much to my suprise and progressed quickly. They have since paid for his degree so he did what was right for him.
And your other son was house sharing with people as a teenager, and also working and completely independent, and paying his own way?!
Absolutely, he lived in a unit on a farm with a few other lads, a couple of miles from us so not far and we saw him everyday.
Again not what I expected for him but he absolutely loves what he does. I worried about him because he was working ridiculously long hours , had plenty of money in his pocket and not a lot of tome to spend it. He has also moved on and doing well.
They are definiely the exception to the rule, and it's farcical to suggest that most teenagers will be in the same position. You're deluded if you think that!
I agree many young men aren't in the same position as my two. My two have taken different career paths and are independent but they are not particularly unusual in our community. Most of their friends are the same position, by taking apprenticeships instead of uni.
We live in a cheap part of the country, people are able to get on the property market easier and early than in other places.
Unless your sons were born in the 1950s, (or earlier in the 20th century!) I find their situations extremely rare. Not in our area. Of course some of their mates went off to uni, some became fathers, a couple lost their way a bit but you are deluded if you think by the age of 18 men cant be responsible and do well for themselves.