The American Dream has long been to get married, buy a home, and have 2-3 kids. However, changing life and economic circumstances in America. Millennials are the first generation in American history who are saying no to getting married and becoming parents. It turns out that that’s not all they’re saying no to. To learn how they’re transforming American life and redefining what it means to be an American, read this article!
They Prefer to Rent or Lease And Not Buy
That statement refers to buying a home. Millennials are too shy to become homeowners. About 6% of Millennials are homeowners. About two-thirds of their parents were homeowners. Also, about 68% of Gen Xers were homeowners. The American dream of buying and owning a house may die with the Millennials.
Apartment List did a survey in 2020 which revealed that 18% of Millennials reported that they never planned to become homeowners. The primary reason why Millennials choose to rent or lease and not buy a home is that it’s too expensive. The average price of a home in a good suburb tops USD 500,000. That’s too much house for most young people.
Almost 75% of Millennials say that they can’t afford to become a homeowner. Also, Millennials were the first generation to go to college en masse. They had to take out staggering student loans to do so thanks to the rapidly skyrocketing cost of college. One survey supports that finding. It reported that 27% of Millennials choose to rent or lease because of crushing student loan debt.
Another trend prompting many Millennials to rent is that most live in big cities where renting is the ‘in thing’ to do. About 6 years ago, 88% of Millennials lived in a major metro. However, more Millennials may choose to become homeowners in the future. According to one survey, they’re waiting an average of 7 years longer to buy a home.
When they do buy a house, they may not do so solo. Data Solutions presented data that revealed that Millennials who bought homes with friends increased by 770% from 2010 to 2021.
They Are Choosing to Never Go Down the Aisle
From the beginning of America, marriage has been a sacred and necessary rite of passage for all citizens and inhabitants. However, Millennials may perhaps be the first generation in history to choose to say, “I don’t” to marriage. The Pew Research Center reported that only 44% of Millennials were married in 2019.
That rate was 61% for Baby Boomers and 53% for Gen Xers as adults. Millennials also go down the aisle much later than previous generations. The average Millennial man ties the knot at age 29.8 and the average Millennial woman gets hitched at 27.8. However, Millennials are still entering into relationships. They are just doing so in non-traditional ways.
Cohabitation for Millennials is up. That’s supported by a finding from Bowling Green University. A study reported that Millennial women are 53% more likely to have live-in relationships than their Baby Boomer parents. Also, 42% of Baby Boomers married the people they had cohabitated with for five years. That stat was only 22% for Millennials.
Time recently did a survey which found that only 42% of Millennials felt that marriage was necessary for having kids. Almost half of Baby Boomers harbored that feeling when they were the Millennials’ age. Recent data from the CDC supports this. According to it, 40% of babies born in 2020 had unmarried parents.
But that may change. The Knot surveyed in 2020. According to it, most Millennials plan to marry in 2-5 years.
More Millennials Are Deciding that the Baby Carriage Isn’t For Them
That’s right. Millennials are perhaps the first generation in history to either postpone parenting or stay childless. The National Vital Statistics System found that women waited about 1.5 years from 24.9 to 26.3 to have kids from 2000 to 2014. Part of the reason for this is that Millennial women are earning more than previous generations of women.
Women who earn more tend to delay or forego childbearing. Women who had their first kid at age 30 made an average of USD 16,000 a year less than those who had their first kid at age 35. But, Millennials are delaying childbearing for another reason – it’s just too expensive.
SoFi and Modern Fertility did a survey in 2020 that reported that 60% of childless Millennials are in their current state of life because they can’t afford kids. But 32% of all Millennials are delaying childbearing because they feel that they are still young and can afford to delay this milestone.
The pandemic also made some Millennials wary of having kids. However, some Millennials appear steadfast in their decision to remain childless. The Pew Research Center found in 2019 that 44% of childless Millennials stated that they would remain that way in the future.
They Prefer to Travel
Traveling is expensive and so is having kids. Many Millennials find that they can’t afford to do both. So, many Millennials would rather explore the world than become parents. According to Deloitte, 57% of Millennials prioritized traveling over other major life milestones. Only 39% of them felt the same way about having kids.
Millennials Are A Different Generation
Most Millennials are changing the sequence at which Americans reached certain major life milestones. Some Millennials are even choosing to skip certain milestones. And that’s okay since Millennials are truly a different generation that’s redefining the American way of life!
