December 22, 2003

Growing number of 20- and 30-year-olds still live at home with their parents and take longer than their parents did to finish schooling, decide on careers and marry; many seem content with situation and in no hurry to reach previously important milestone's of growth; some social scientists can phenomenon 'transitional adulthood' and say it is partly due to economy in which most jobs that pay enough to support middle-class life require years of advanced education; parents often have mixed views of these arrangements; photos; graph shows estimated median age of first marriage and percentage of grown children living at home by age, sex and race (L)

Offshore outsourcing of technology jobs to India and other low-cost nations discussed; trend, spurred by spread of high-speed Internet connections, is real, irreversible and another step in globalization of United States economy; fits into well-worn historical pattern of economic change and adjustment in US; some offshore work has returned to US, but it is unclear whether such cases are part of incipient 'backlash' (M)

Michael R Bloomberg says he regrets little that he has done in his first two years as mayor of New York despite low approval rating, asserting that hard choices are necessary for city's future; denies being out of touch with average New Yorker; plans to run for re-election on his record and the promise to complete what he has started; says would-be challengers could not have matched what he has accomplished so far; chief executives and management experts give Bloomberg high marks, but his businesslike style and disdain for public displays of affection have cost him points in polls; photo (M)

In world of embattled media magnate Conrad M Black, friendships with rich and often politically influential have overlapped with business; his interlocking relationships may come to haunt not only Black but directors who oversaw company, now that Black and his Hollinger International face inquiries by Securities and Exchange Comm and Justice Dept into more than $200 million that he and his top executives collected; seemingly porous boundary among Black's social, political and business lives was reflected in composition of Hollinger board; in 1990's, Henry A Kissinger, Richard N Perle and Dwayne Andreas served as directors at times when they were also getting paid, by Hollinger, for their advice to Black; Black will testify before SEC on Dec 22; he has reportedly been advised by his lawyers to invoke Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination because he has not had time to review all documents related to current issues; photo (M)

Bruce Wasserstein's succes in quietly outbidding group led by Mortimer B Zuckerman for New York magazine is talk of media watchers; Zuckerman group, which included Donny Deutsch, Nelson Peltz, Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein, had campaigned publicly and confidently for magazine, openly speculating about changes they planned; Zuckerman plays down loss, interview; had tried to low-ball owner, Primedia Inc, because magazine was not sought by biggest magazine-publishing companies and was not allowed to make new bid; photos (M)