The cost of growing up: Why Gen Z feels priced out of the American dream
Generation Z faces significant barriers to achieving traditional milestones of adulthood such as homeownership, debt-free education, and starting a family due to rising economic costs that were not of their making. Soaring home prices, high student loan debt, and expensive childcare have made financial independence increasingly difficult, leading to delays in major life decisions. These challenges reflect structural economic shifts rather than a lack of ambition, prompting calls for policy reforms to address affordability and long-term financial stability.
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The milestones associated with adulthood — buying a home, paying off student debt, and starting a family — have become dramatically more difficult to achieve. The issue is not that younger generations reject responsibility or lack ambition. Rather, it is a rational concern about affordability, specifically economic costs and barriers that Generation Z did not create. Start with housing. From the founding of our nation, home and land ownership have been cornerstones of the American dream that symbolized stability and stimulated upward mobility. In just under two decades, the average age of an American homebuyer rose from 39 to 59 years old.
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