Millennials and the New American Dream
Foreclosure.com Scholarship Program Winning Essay 2017, (Runner up)
By Jared Van Vark | Colorado State University
Recent data suggests that millennials have shown hesitation towards adopting the “traditional” view of the American Dream. In this paper, I would like to discuss why despite the data, I believe the idea of homeownership is still alive and strong among the millennial generation. While the more typical American dream may have transformed to fit into the emerging culture and changing workforce, at the core it is still the same. A house provides a sense of security, a sense of ownership, and a sense of privacy. Throughout this paper I will explain why I believe millennials are still chasing these same feelings.
The vast use and expansion of technology across all sectors has changed many aspects of life and this has forced the traditional idea of the American dream to change along with it. There are more and more unorthodox jobs created every day that don’t follow the “cookie cutter” job that goes along with the classic American dream and now people can get famous/wealthy overnight. This type of opportunity and growth in the job world has forced the housing market to change with it. More and more people are renting apartments and condos in order to be near their jobs in the city while at the same time many others are making a living working from their large houses nowhere near a city. This has caused the housing market to change along with the job industry and I believe is also causing millennials to own homes later in their lives. Millennials still strive to own a home and start a family at some point in their life but are often delayed when pursuing a salary from an unorthodox job.
While I still feel the idea of owning a home is strong among millennials, I’d like to first talk about some of the cons of homeownership or reasons why millennials are slower to adopt the traditional American dream. I believe the following reasons could possibly explain the recent data showing how millennials have been slow to adopt home ownership. The first reason; the great recession made us weary of the market as a whole. We were just learning what the market was, then it crashed and showed us the damage it can bring. My generation was relatively new to how to market worked and were not really around to experience all the benefits it had already created for the world. Really all we had seen the market do is collapse and cause widespread tragedy and heartbreak. This leads me into my second reason which is that; millennials are hesitant to lock into long term deals and especially those that will require them to make payments for the next 30 years. I believe this type of long-term commitment is a large deterrent for young millennials adopting the traditional American dream of owning a home as early as their parents did. They spend more time living in an apartment while working their first couple of jobs instead of graduating school and buying a house to live in for the next 20–30 years like their parents did. The overall hesitation and uncertainness that each and every millennial feels towards the markets can be explained by the 2008 crash and is an example of the effects being felt by both the markets and the people today.
Now to switch sides and talk about why, despite what the data may show I believe millennials are still chasing after the American dream; just a slightly modified version. The American dream has slightly changed to fit the emerging culture but what lays at the core remains the same. One of the largest reasons millennials still strive to own a home in my mind is because it offers a sense of safe place and a “home”. It is somewhere you lay your head at night, somewhere you can raise a family, and somewhere you feel the most comfortable. A large portion of my generation grew up in the stereotypical American home on a cul de sac with a dozen other identical houses. This is what we know home to be, what some might use as a measure of success in their lives. Our parents worked for years to be able to buy a house on a cul de sac, one that they could raise a family in, one that would allow them to live out their American dream. We are naturally inclined to have overlapping views of success with our parents so it makes sense that one day millennials would like to do the same for their own families.
The last point of the paper I will address the overarching question; will collective hesitation and apprehension hurt millennials in the long-run? My answer is no. While I understand that less and less are owning homes and more and more are waiting to own until later in life, this is just the housing market reacting to the changing world. The ideals of security, privacy, and success will always be what people will chase in life. They may change and morph into slightly different versions of their original selves, but they will always exist deep at the core of human desires. I’m not saying that this generation will not see any negative repercussions because of the hesitation and apprehension but in the long run I believe none of these will matter when we look back on it. In the future, I hope to see a decline in housing prices as a result in less home ownership but in the long run I hope to see low prices in the housing market attract the young millennial generation and increase home ownership rates again. Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts, I appreciate the opportunity that has been provided and look forward to the future!
The winning essay above was submitted to Foreclosure.com’s scholarship program.
The 2017 essay topic:
IS THE “AMERICAN DREAM” OF ONE DAY OWNING A HOME ALIVE AND WELL AMONG MILLENNIALS?
Millennials having experienced the “Great Recession,” which was the traumatic housing crisis that triggered the financial crisis a decade ago. As a result, data suggests that Millennials (those born between 1981 to 1997) have been slow to adopt homeownership. Discuss the pros and cons of homeownership for Millennials, as well as which factors could increase or decrease homeownership among the generation. Will their collective hesitation and apprehension hurt them in the long run or are Millennials simply in the process of re-defining the “American Dream?”
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