Young adults in the U.S. are experiencing a very different trajectory than their parents, with more of them hitting key milestones later in life and also taking on more debt, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.
A majority of young adults say they remain financially dependent on their parents to some extent, such as receiving help paying for everything from rent to their mobile phone bills. Only about 45% of 18- to 34-year-olds described themselves as completely financially independent from their parents, the study found.
Not surprisingly, the younger members of the group, those 18 to 24, are the most likely to rely on their folks for financial support, with more than half relying on their parents to help take care of basic household expenses. But a significant share of 30- to 34-year-olds also need assistance, with almost 1 in 5 saying their parents provide aid for their household bills.
More broadly, the survey offers a portrait of a generation that’s struggling with debt in a way that their parents did not, with more of them shouldering student loans and, for those who own a home, larger mortgages than their parents had at their age. But the analysis also showed that young adults expressed optimism about their futures, with 3 in 4 who are currently financially dependent on their parents saying they believe they’ll eventually reach independence.
They aren’t super nice houses or anything. They’re just small brick homes, maybe 1,200 Sq ft. They’re what used to be considered starter homes, and now they’re probably worth around 140k. The problem is there are no job opportunities in a small rural town other than fast food and grocery stores. No young person can afford to buy these old “starter homes” when they make $12-14 an hour. It would be irresponsible even for a 2 income household to finance something like these houses, and they are the cheapest in town.
New developments are going up because the older generations sell off their family land for insane prices. The new houses go for 350k. It’s killing small towns because the young people leave. I don’t know what the answer is, but I daydream about living simply in small villages and truly having a life vs whatever the fuck this is.