For many years, getting your driver’s license was a rite of passage. Teenagers counted down the days until their 16th birthday, anxiously awaiting the driver’s test and fantasizing about the new freedom their license would give them.
But at some point in the last few decades, that has all changed. The rush for teenagers to get their licenses has all but disappeared. In 1983, 46% of 16-year-olds had their driver’s licenses. In 2026, that number has fallen substantially to just 26%. While the drop began while millennials were coming of age, the number hit new lows with Gen Z. By the time most people are in their early twenties, the rate of licensure rises, but teens aren’t as eager to drive as they once were.
The number of 16-year-olds with driver’s licenses hit its low point in 2021 and 2022, falling to a weak 24%. During these years, getting a license was easier than ever, thanks to COVID-19 precautions. Written tests for learner’s permits were often accessible online. After a few months of lockdowns, DMV offices were so overwhelmed that several states waived the road tests for certain teenage applicants. While this should’ve made licenses easier to obtain than ever, most young people still didn’t seem interested in acquiring them.
As a teenager in 2020, I remember asking one of my friends who had freshly turned 16 whether or not she was planning to take advantage of the waived road test to get her license. She shrugged and said, “What’s the point? Where would I even go?”
Getting a driver’s license has lost its prestige. Our country and culture have changed significantly since the age of “American Graffiti.” Young people don’t have the incentive to jump in their cars, turn on the radio, and spend the night cruising from place to place.
One reason is that teenage car culture can’t exist in a world where the dream of owning a car feels completely out of reach. It has become increasingly difficult for young people to buy and maintain their own cars. In 2009, President Barack Obama’s “Cash for Clunkers” program intentionally destroyed 678,000 running vehicles. Cheap, pre-owned vehicles were how many first-time car buyers were able to afford their own car. Obama’s program removed usable capital from the market, and it, alongside inflation and other factors, has made it difficult for young people to find cars available in their price range.
The cheapest cars, which often have extremely high mileage, typically still cost about $10,000. Something more sensible and safe will usually cost closer to $20,000. Obama’s program also removed millions of workable car parts from the market, meaning that there were fewer spare parts available for the cars that did remain on the road. This scarcity further increased the costs of repairs and maintenance, placing the hope of car ownership further out of reach.
The exorbitant cost of car ownership simply isn’t worth it to young people, who feel like they have nowhere to go, anyhow. Teenagers who scrimp and save to buy a lemon don’t have any place to drive to. Part of the reason why teenagers wanted their licenses and their own vehicles was to find freedom. They could go out to restaurants, bowling alleys, arcades, dances, and drive-ins. These places, often called “third spaces,” were once relatively cheap, safe places for young people to spend their time. As they have disappeared from society, so, too, has the urge for teenagers to get their licenses.
If your home is your “first space” and your workplace or school is your “second space,” then the “third space” is the one where you should engage in community and recreation. For many years, the primary third space for teenagers was the mall. Several weeks ago, Daily Wire host Matt Walsh did an investigation into the collapse of the American mall, during which he revealed that by the end of the decade, as many as 87% of malls are expected to close. He cites factors such as safety concerns and private equity firms as contributors to their decline, gradually removing places where teenagers could harmlessly gather.
Other third spaces such as fast food restaurants and movie theaters have become more expensive and less welcoming. The number of bowling alleys has been cut in half since the 1980s, the number of arcades has almost entirely collapsed, and the number of indoor community centers has declined significantly in recent decades. There are fewer places for young people to gather and socialize, meaning that they have little motivation for earning a driver’s license.
Social media has offered a cheaper, easier, and significantly worse alternative. The freedom once found in buying a car and socializing with friends has been relegated to chat rooms and social media platforms. Instead of taking the time to go through the hassle of taking the test, buying a car, and trying to find places worth going, teenagers can simply gather online. The pandemic convinced a generation of young people that in-person interaction wasn’t necessary so long as they had their phone or computer. Teens are much more likely to spend their evenings on FaceTime, meeting up with their friends on Roblox, or sending endless Snapchats to one another than they are to meet physically. The result is that teenagers have lost the desire for independence and are perfectly happy without the liberty afforded by a driver’s license.
Rites of passage such as obtaining a driver’s license are incredibly important for the growth and maturation of young people. It’s a way to take on responsibility, and the growing indifference toward them reveals how repressed America’s youth have become. The driver’s license is a small piece of independence that we should encourage young people to seek.
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Brooke Brandtjen is a writer and journalist from Wisconsin who focuses primarily on culture, politics, and religion. She is a senior contributor at New Guard Press, a publication she joined while attending Hillsdale College.
This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
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