As the first of the millennial generation graduated college and entered the workforce in 2007, the notorious housing bubble ruptured and the economy crashed. While there is much debate regarding the causes of these events, the results are evident and lasting, with millennials taking the biggest hit. This essay will delve into the influences and unique circumstances surrounding the millennial experience and what that means for the future of our economy. Being a millennial myself, this prompt resonated profoundly. Recently, I’ve found myself asking these pressing questions: Why can’t I afford to buy a home and support a family the way my parents did at my age? When and how will I get there? With Millennials now the largest group in the workforce, the statistics make way for a startling impact on the American economy. Despite the myths about millennials being allergic to children and selfishly unwilling to participate in the economy, censuses show that 80 percent of millennials, including the majority of renters, are interested in buying a home. Obstacles seem to be at every turn as millennials fight for our opportunities in adulthood. The future of America is currently underpaid and drowning in student loan debt while the cost of living is escalating. After much research, here are my ideas surrounding the current debacle along with creative solutions to potentially overcome it. Let’s start by taking a look at some statistics and how we got here, bear with me. The main reason
The Millennial Generation is earning 20 percent less than the Generation X and the Baby Boomers. Psychotherapist at NYU (according to the university’s website), Brooke Donatone argues in her article, “Why Millennials Can’t Grow Up” that millennials experience “extended adolescence that delays adulthood” (Donatone 1). The author believes that the reasons for that happening are parents by their helicopter parenting and the economy because there are less high paying jobs that allow millennials to be financially independent. Throughout the article, Donatone explains that there is evidence on how it is not millennials’ fault that they are experiencing delayed adulthood. Therefore, it is safe to assume that her intended audience are the parents
Millennials living at home. At first, he uses the growing numbers of Millennials living with their parents in comparison to other generations as a sign of laziness in Millennials. Even when discussing the positive aspects of Millennials and their financial knowledge, he makes more snide comments about how easy it is to be financially stable if Millennials aren’t using their own money to begin with, but instead their parents’. It’s ironic that despite speaking so positively about Millennials at the end and how numbers don't mean everything, he still remains negative about Millennials housing situations based on numbers
Starting with the savings and loan crisis of the 1980’s, baby boomers, a generation born between 1945-1964, made many avoidable mistakes regarding economic decisions. Although the economy is always fluctuating, the onset of the baby boomers’ adulthood caused a downward spiral and the actions of Millennials aren’t helping. As the Huffington Post demonstrates, older generations are quick to judge, blaming the economy on Millennials and Generation Yers. On the other hand Newsweek, a more credible news site, shows that had generations before planned for the long term, Millennials wouldn’t have made this transition in the first place. By turning into a more “shared economy,” meaning buying things used and renting, big corporations are taking serious hits, causing them to layoff people and raise prices. Furthermore, the generational differences in ideals and behavior are also contributing to the distress. Although many would argue that these generational differences are common throughout the ages, they are further hurting an already weak economy.
The typical series of big events in life include graduating high school, going to college, finding a significant other, graduating college, getting married, and buying a home. Although these events happen in a variety of different patterns nowadays, a major bump in the road is occurring when looking to buy a home, especially in Colorado Springs. This article highlighted the challenges that the millennial generation is facing when reaching this stage in life. "Student loan debt is more than $1.2 trillion, and nearly 70 percent of college graduates have some student loan debt, according to the Federal Reserve (pg 1)." These college graduates now need to add loan payments to their monthly debts, leaving them with even less disposable income. Not
In an effort to save money and lower debt, more and more millennials are turning living in their parent's basement from the punchline of a bad joke or sitcom fodder into an accepted, and even
Can you imagine yourself as an adult who just graduated from college, and has to move back home and live with your parents? Imagine waking up everyday and knowing that you have two hundred thousand dollars in student loans that has to be paid? There are many reasons that cause these problems, but today, large amounts of student debt and an increase in unemployment are the major problems that college graduates are facing. With the lack of jobs and no money, people are turning to their parents for food and shelter. In Rosie Evan’s essay “Boomerang Kids: What are the Cause of Generation Y’s Growing Pains,” she explains the causes of the delayed adulthood, and she also gives the messages to people and the government to offer better support to this generation. The causes of Generation Y’ growing pains are the amount of college’s debt, lack of employment and people becoming too dependent on technology.
“The American Dream” of homeownership is still a central ideal of American culture but for Millenials it is a dream worth deferring until their own personal goals are fulfilled. More and more millennials are hesitant to invest in owning a home as they pursue entrepreneurial, educational and professional goals before having children and expanding their living space.
Largely because of the $1.3 trillion worth of outstanding student loan debt in the United States, most young adult college graduates are in stressful, limiting, and precarious situations as they attempt to launch their lives into adulthood. Indeed, some have dubbed the Millennial generation the “boomerang generation” because after college so many graduates are moving back in with their parents rather than getting their own homes and beginning their own independent paths (Austin 329). Some studies show that as many as one half of college graduates are either unemployed or underemployed, the latter meaning either part time work
In our world of instant gratification, people got to save money any way they can. People that shop online need to wait 48 hours before making an impulsive purchase. They are spending too much money on clothes, shoes, and accessories. One can start by cleaning out closets and sell the items that not being worn. In 7 Things Young People Are Spending More Money On These Days, Sam Becker states,This has led many to think that they are a bunch of entitled brats who refuse to grow up. But we have to take into account that millennials are saddled with more debt than any other previous generation, have grown up in a post-9/11 world of perpetual war, and entered the workforce during one of the worst economic stretches in American history. It hasn’t been all beach trips and Mike’s Hard Lemonades, though things are getting better (Becker, sec. 3). He says, The millennials
We, more than any other age, want stability. No one wants to see that in us because it’s a tough fight to get it, but we want to self-manage and have financial certainty. Houses mean something entirely different to us than to others. We don’t see houses as necessities or obligations. We don’t take mortgages lightly or settle into some place we’re not happy with. The real estate market has some new customers who are taking their choices seriously. To us, that house has to be earned, and it’s also an investment. We don’t feel an obligation to settle into that house; we want it because of what it offers us. That house can grant both stability and financial security. Making an investment like that is something that overjoys a generation still shaken from the uncertainty of the market crash. When we make investments, we become adults. There is nothing scarier or more exhilarating than stepping away from an age where we can’t control the world around us into being at the wheel. The housing market may not have the same customers as it once did, but these customers are ones who aren’t taking any decisions lightly. Stepping from dorm to apartment to renting and, finally, to owning a home is a terrifying journey. Nobody should take it lightly, but we should take it. We’re ready to take on mortgages and handle the economy in a new
Millennials have to contend with staying at their parent's homes, while struggling to grasp onto shrinking job opportunities (Evans 1). The constant back and forth of either being babysat or babysitting creates a sense of inability for the millennial generation to sustain their workplace while staying with their parents at home. An article by Patten and Fry asserts that the housing market trends in the United States of America further affirm that there is an increase in the number of people renting houses as opposed to the number of people owning them. The explanation that is offered to justify such trends, of increase in people renting houses, is the growth in the cost of living (Leader Publications 1). The increase in the cost of living not only lowers the amount of money being spent, but also the spending potential of many people, therefore, disabling millennials from creating major financial decisions such as home ownership. As a result, the remaining option would be to live with their parents or to seek for a rental house if a millennial wants to move out (Shwetz 1). The increase in the inflation rates further hinders both the boomers and the millennials from having access to the housing market. An increase in inflation leads to an increase in the cost of living. Additionally, an increase in inflation rates also
Homeownership is a double-edged sword. It is the “American Dream” to one day own a house. Compared to their predecessors, Millennials are seeing the advantages and disadvantages of homeownership at an earlier age. These early generations believed owning a house was the cherry-on-top to being an all-around American and achieving the “American Dream”. As a cynical generation who grew up with information at our fingertips and the world falling around us, millennials see homeownership differently. “The cautious and conservative approach to home buying displayed by millennials is driven by the fact their outlook on life was shaped by a number of bad things when they were young—the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, the 2008 financial crisis, the housing bust with mass foreclosures and a weak recovery that has so far provided incomes below that of prior generations” (Stowe England, 36). We learned that the world was not fair and that it is time to redefine the “American Dream” to reflect our current economic society.
Slow and steady wins the race. The dream of home ownership doesn’t have to be reached immediately. Just because millennials, which includes myself, aren’t buying houses now doesn’t mean they don’t want to. I very much do (though perhaps without the white picket fence). In fact, 93% of millennial renters aged 18-34 do want to own a home one day,1 and millennials have actually made up the largest share of home buyers in the past four years.2 Why then do so many articles proclaim “Millennials aren’t buying homes?” People are reactionary. If
We've all seen those movies of those lazy individuals we call millennials. These people are often depicted as dependent individuals that are either living with their parents or renting some shady apartment. That's the question has been proposed whether or not are they justified in doing so. It is obviously easy to say that they have a right to do so, but can it be considered rational in the days we live in. Are their benefits from withholding to buying a house. And maybe even this could be the redefining of the new “American Dream.”
Technology is largely responsible for the cause of the obesity epidemic amongst young adolescents, whereas food runs at a close second in being responsible for the continuous problem. In the 70s, technology did not exist and all children had were each other for their entertainment, physical activities, and peer interactions. The food back then wasn’t highly processed or contained with lots of sugar, individuals would portion out their meals with correct amount of meat and veggies, and many did not overeat. In this generation, teens are glued into their phones, game consoles, television, etc., and don’t participate in much physical activity. So many people go day by day consuming large amounts of calories from