Go to school, get a job, get married, buy a house, have children. We are all taught that this is the ideal life that we should live. It is a generational concept that has been passed down. However, it seems as though Gen Z has a different way of living in mind. With new scientific discoveries in medicine and health, baby boomers are living longer. This is a great thing; longevity is priceless, however that means that Gen X, millenials and Gen Z are not in a position of being able to inherit their money to be able to purchase a home and live comfortably. This would be an ideal, but not a practical situation.
In the 80s and 90s, baby boomers were able to buy homes at a great value straight out of college with a starting salary. Households were able to sustain themselves on a single household income, with one parent working and one raising children. This is no longer the case. Values of homes have skyrocketed in price. This is great for our baby boomers since they’ve managed to build equity in their homes over the years, but not so great for Gen X, millennials and Gen Z since salaries have not been able to keep up with the rate of inflation.
With this big increase in our elderly population and insufficient salaries, the
generations following baby boomers are at risk. The cost of living is too much to bear. According to the California Association of Realtors, it would take a salary of $192,000 per year to make payments of $4,980 per month on a 30 year fixed- rate mortgage. Millennials take up 35% of the workforce currently trying to make ends meet. The ideal goal, as stated earlier is to establish a career, purchase a home, and start a family, a common scenario that we call the American Dream. It seems that our so-called American Dream seems to be fading with our changing times. But with everyone working to be able to afford this so-called dream, it is getting more difficult for everyone since salaries are not good enough to purchase a home with the increasing prices of homes. If people aren’t purchasing homes due to the lack of affordability, then starting a family is becoming more a dream than a reality. Without families we are creating an aging crisis that is causing socio economic issues. We are losing what the true identity of a family is. People are functioning as robots rather than people to meet these standards that just don’t apply for the generations emerging. Dual incomes are no longer optional, but mandatory to be able to possibly afford a home. Children are being created at later stages in a couple’s life.
Yes, we are living in an overpopulated society with climate change on the rise. With aging populations we have smaller workforces. With less income revenues to pay for rising home prices, it is mind boggling where this society will end up. With our newborn birth rate dropping and our elderly population increasing, this puts a burden on our entire society. People can’t afford homes or children. In today’s time, every household needs to at least be a dual income household. In the later years, a single income household was enough where mothers could stay home and raise their children. Although living with parents longer, getting married later in life, and not having children sooner seems like the cost efficient choice currently. Government officials need to understand that this is unhealthy for people and can lead to a decline in population and society will become much more difficult to live in. Minimum wage is not sufficient enough for home ownership.
Low birth rate may not be such a terrible thing in the long run. A shrinking workforce wouldn’t be as disastrous with high level of automation. Housing price could finally get low enough with more space for each person. It may be painful at first to have a large elderly population, but I'm hopeful that by the time Gen Z is in their 30s or 40s, the population will reach a stable equilibrium.
Very interesting post. Other countries that historically aren't great with human rights have implemented population control such as limiting couples to one child. It's interesting to think whether the US will ever stoop that low.
Super interesting post. To an extent, I think the American Dream is still alive (at least more alive than it is elsewhere). In Spain, it's almost impossible to get a job without family connections. America is moving closer and closer to this reality, which is sad to see. But we still have incredible amounts of mobility in our social class compared to other countries. We need to work harder to keep any semblance of our weakening American Dream alive, especially with housing prices. Luckily, I don't think it's quite dead yet.
The concept of the American Dream is actually something I studied quite intensely in one of my American Studies classes. It's not only, in my opinion, fictitious but surreal. The concept of the American Dream paints out this mindset that everything is overcomeable with hard work. However, that's simply not the case, if it was im sure a lot of us would be Elon Musk rich by now. The sad truth is that to achieve the wonders of the American Dream a certain privilege is needed. Sure this privileged could be obtained through generations however, the way the American Dream is “marketed” promises this success to lure in immigrants from other countries at the expense of civil and labor liberties.
This is a very interesting post. I took a class that addressed this topic and it's very clear that our aging population is going to grow globally in the next twenty years beyond what we've seen in any previous generations. I myself don't want to get married in the traditional sense and I don't want children so it doesn't really bother me that the white picket fence is not really feasible anymore, but I wonder how other people who want those things feel about the changing landscape. Mostly, I'm interested in how that affects peoples desires for the future. Does this generation just not want the same things and are just being denied or is it leading to changing wants/needs?