- No one, as Tom Postilio, a real estate agent in New York at Douglas Elliman, put it, wants to post on Instagram: “‘So glad I could move into this apartment that I don’t make enough money to buy, but thanks Mom and Dad for the cash.’” Mr. Postilio estimates that a quarter of his 30-something clients who are buying larger apartments (over two bedrooms) receive money from their parents, whether it’s in the form of a gift, a low-interest loan or co-purchasing.
On the one hand, this article is a helpful reminder to never compare one’s superficial station in life. Lord knows what hell they may have received. On the other, it seems written to help alleviate the guilt of the population being described: city-living millennials receiving help from their affluent boomer parents. The article alludes to the population of millennials not receiving help but barely describes their tribulations except for mentioning that some may be supporting their parents instead of cashing their checks. It’s hard, as the article exhorts us, to stop shaming boosted millennials when the article doesn’t do much to make them seem sympathetic. That said... I know so many people who get help from their parents—myself included. While it makes sense from each family's standpoint, it collectively reinforces our socioeconomic divisions. I’m blown away by how different this is from thirty years ago. 
I have no answer to this, but the thing I immediately wondered about was the "a little help from my parents" section of that post. How much of their post was enabled by that little bit of help? How much was that little bit? Was it down played because we as a nation have a very weird relationship with the story of the self made man. The narrative has always existed, the economy has just made it more noticeable.
Yea, they almost snuck it in there. It's hard to judge, even with the prices they listed and the lack of debt upon graduation. One person's "little help" might be another's "holy shit, that's a safety net." That said, it conforms to my understanding of how much cheaper housing and living was thirty or more years ago.
My wife and I graduated undergrad with no debt. I didn't pay for my last two years' tuition; my wife had a full ride. State school, but still. My wife lived with her parents for eighteen months, saved up, and put down a downpayment on this house. She was 22 and that downpayment was like $10k. She paid $1200 a month for the mortgage. I was far too happy to pay $650 a month for 1400 sqft with a view of the lake; any rent-vs-own calculator back then would say "keep enjoying your view." Of course, that apartment is now six half-million-dollar condos. I got a different read from the article than you did - what I read was basically that "adulting" has become such a thing because the standard markers of adulthood have been pushed so far out by financial circumstance that really, there's nothing you can't do without your parents' help anymore.