Dad Helps Lazy 21-Year-Old Son Still Living at Home to Get a Job Interview, Son Skips Job Interview to Play Video Games

Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor

Jun 10, 2026 8:30 PM EDT

Can he make him get his act together?

Let's say, for the sake of argument, you have a kid who is starting to show symptoms of failure to launch. He has attended little, if any, college, and does not have a consistent job. He spends most of his time at home, in his room, doing something on his computer, but you don't know what. He doesn't seem particularly discontent with this lifestyle, or at least he doesn't seem to be trying to make any major changes to help him move out and start his own life. What would you do? Would you let him continue living in your house and eating up your groceries if he's not in employment, education, or training?

So many parents struggle with this situation, and they feel helpless because they don't want to choose the nuclear option. They don't want to kick their kid out of their house, but sometimes that is the only thing that will get a lazy person to change. Even though it might force their adult child to change for the better, it can also harm their relationship with each other, especially in the short run. The alternative of letting their adult child live at home and waste his life away for as long as he wants isn't particularly appealing either. There has to be a middle ground between kicking your kid to the curb with no warning and letting them be their own worst enemy.

via Oleg Ivanov (Unsplash+)

_{A model pretending to be a 21-year-old man who lives at home, doesn't have a job, and mooches off of his parents while he plays video games and hangs out with his girlfriend all day.}
How do I get my son off the couch, out of the house, and into a job?

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_{Actors portraying a man in his 30s and his mother, who enables his bad behavior when his dad criticizes it.}
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_{A representation of a car packed up with the 21-year-old son's stuff after he got a job and worked for six months, saving up some money so he could move out of his parents' house.}
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