Generation Z is four times more likely than past generations to require financial assistance from family members when buying their first home.
According to data from luxury real estate firm RubyHome obtained by The Daily Wire, 79% of members of Generation Z received financial help from their parents when buying their first property — a substantial increase from the 19% of Baby Boomers and Silent Generation members who reported the same.
“When combined, data show that adults under 45 are more than three times as likely as people 45 and older to say their parents gave them a property outright or paid the entire deposit,” the RubyHome analysis summarized.
Prices for single family homes have soared over the past two years. In the second quarter of 2022, the median sale price of a home in the United States was $440,300, according to data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, marking a 36% rise from $322,600 in the second quarter of 2020.
Younger Americans have been particularly impacted by the dismal real estate market. An analysis from Filterbuy indicated that at least half of Millennials — defined by the company as those between 24 and 39 years old — are unable to afford a one-bedroom apartment in many major American cities. For the metropolitan area surrounding Los Angeles, California, median wages are $36,649 while the annual wage needed to rent a one-bedroom apartment is $72,560.
“The combination of rising rents and stagnant wages has been a challenge for Americans of all stripes, but certain groups have been more disadvantaged by this state of affairs than others,” Filterbuy explained. “Even well-off households are feeling pressure, as rising real estate costs price would-be buyers out and keep them competing for space in the rental market — and as they spend more on rent, they have a harder time saving for homeownership.”
Another recent study from financial services company Fidelity shows that the economic turmoil of the last two years has disrupted many Americans’ savings behavior. Roughly 55% of “Next Gen” — which the study defines as Americans between the ages of 18 and 35 — said that they placed their retirement plans on hold as COVID rapidly spread through the United States, while 45% do not “see a point in saving until things return to normal.” Roughly 39% of young adults therefore “plan to retire later.”
The dire financial straits impacting many members of Generation Z reflect a broader social decline in the United States. Last year, the population of the United States grew at its slowest pace since the nation’s founding, according to data from the Census Bureau. Among other reasons for the decline, the agency cited “decreasing fertility” and “increasing mortality due to an aging population,” as well as the onset of COVID. Meanwhile, only 17.8% of America’s 130 million households feature married parents with children — a decline from over 40% in 1970.
Over the past several months, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly criticized the notion that the world is at risk of overpopulation.
“I think one of the biggest risks to civilization is the low birthrate and the rapidly declining birthrate,” Musk explained at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit last year. “And yet, so many people, including smart people, think that there are too many people in the world and think that the population is growing out of control. It’s completely the opposite. Please look at the numbers — if people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble, mark my words.”