Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos gave their son a 'grace period' to find a job after graduating college during the pandemic

• On Friday's "Live with Kelly and Ryan," Kelly Ripa spoke about her son's difficulties finding work post-grad.
• The TV host said she gave her son Michael, 25, a one-year "grace period" after his 2020 graduation.

Kelly Ripa opened up about her son's job prospects during the COVID-19 pandemic on Friday's episode of "Live with Kelly and Ryan." The television host explained how she and her husband Mark Consuelos supported their oldest son, Michael, after his 2020 college graduation.

"Adulting is hard nowadays. It's very hard for kids. Job opportunities aren't what they were. The economy is driving this trend." said Ripa. "I know that Michael graduated college in May of 2020 and he had a writing job lined up which evaporated because the pandemic shut down the production and it just never came back."

In addition to Michael, Ripa and Consuelos share a daughter Lola, 21, and a son Joaquin, 19.

Ripa said she and Consuelos gave Michael a year-long "grace period" after his post-grad job fell through. Ripa also revealed that she financially supports her children, as long as they maintain jobs and other responsibilities.

"I said to them, these are years that you won't get back and this is a time where we won't mind supporting you financially as long as you work — as long as you maintain a job for your add-ons, as I call them," Ripa said on the show.

Ripa said that she and her husband provide "safety nets" for their children because they didn't grow up with that financial support.

"The bells and whistles; the stuff that they want — as long as you work for that, we will cover the core expenses, but once you graduate, that's over," she continued. "Because we were married at 25, you know what I mean? And we feel like because we didn't have safety nets, we got something cooking."

Ripa shared that it's a "unique time right now to have kids in college."

In September, Ripa opened up to Insider about her life with Consuelos now that they're empty nesters. She spoke candidly about a vacation they took without their children, and the freedom they felt while focusing on their relationship.

"It was luxurious and adventurous," Ripa told Insider. "We didn't get bored. Our kids called us several times because they thought we might miss them or that we were bored in some way. And we tried to pretend, 'It's not as much fun without you guys,' but we had the time of our lives."