Gen Z’s ‘situationship’ with home ownership

Every generation has criticism for the youth underneath them, and Generation Z is often pegged as lazy, energy-drinking gamers who still live at home.

But for a lot of Gen Z members, living on their own isn’t really an option.

A big milestone in a young adult’s life is buying their first home, but with the rising costs of living, that milestone is a lot harder to reach.

“It’s really hard for kids now. They’re just not making enough money to be able to pay rent or to purchase a first home,” said Pamela Donarona, a woman visiting from Connecticut.

“If they’re thinking about the smart thing to do, that’s probably to stay with their folks if their folks are in that space,” said Elizabeth Dembrowsky.

• RELATED: Gen Z has the worst drivers; have highest incident rates, most DUIs, other driving incidents: study
• RELATED: Business owners find Gen Z workers ‘difficult,’ study says; they respond

And that’s exactly what some Gen Z young adults are doing or, in Clayton Gothel’s case, plan to do.

“Try and build that up as most you can. Then you can try and put that towards other things later in life, like cars and house and stuff like that, save that up for a couple of years. I think it’s definitely beneficial,” said 21-year-old Gothel.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than half of 18- to 24-year-olds in America are living at home. That percentage has climbed to 87% in the past 20 years.

After talking with parents, they understand it. Things are expensive, and they want to help their kids out.

“She lived with us for a year in order to save money to buy their house,” said Donarona, “so as a parent, I’ve always felt that if I could launch my kids off into a better situation, that’s my responsibility.”

But one mom argues that their responsibility also means making their kids independent.

“What has to happen is that they’re paying some form of rent, even if their parents are gonna give it back to them. Because the problem that I see happening with people I know is that the kids are really comfortable, and they’re spoiled,” said Dembrowsky.

Dembrowsky has a point. Research indicates letting your kid live at home comes with downsides.

“Their parents are like, ‘Oh, we like them around,’ but real success of being a parent is when your child’s independent,” said Dembrowsky, “and that’s what we’re called to do, right, is to create adults that can function on their own.”

One of those downsides is finance. A 2019 report from the Urban Institute showed that after a decade, 32% of young adults who initially lived with their parents still were not living independently, while almost all previous renters and homeowners had.

Also, emotionally, for many young adults feeling on their own is an important step to feeling grown up.

Researchers have found that moving back home with their parents feels like a setback for them.