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Why can't today's young adults leave the nest? Blame high housing costs

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Re: Why can't today's young adults leave the nest? Blame high housing costs

#11

I don’t think society has yet realized the cascading effects this will have on fertility rate and compression of the demographic pyramid.

Even worse, most people, including politicians, are completely incapable to understand exponential processes and how fast population decline can occur and how difficult is to recover from it.

Re: Why can't today's young adults leave the nest? Blame high housing costs

#13
post #11

I don’t think society has yet realized the cascading effects this will have on fertility rate and compression of the demographic pyramid.

Even worse, most people, including politicians, are completely incapable to understand exponential processes and how fast population decline can occur and how difficult is to recover from it.

Politicians are the real estate owners and they understand exponential processes just fine. Their kids don't pay rent but receive it.

Re: Why can't today's young adults leave the nest? Blame high housing costs

#14
I'm surprised with remote work we haven't seen a resurgence of the small town.

Towns within an hour of a bigger city, but small enough where the real estate is still reasonably priced.

Maybe when this young adult generation starts to consider kids, this option might become attractive.

Re: Why can't today's young adults leave the nest? Blame high housing costs

#15
(Genuine questions, please don't misinterpret as negative judgement):

How much of this is actually new as far as income vs costs, and how much of this is unwillingness to make sacrifices that older generations did? For example, in my 20s (20 years ago), it was very common for 20somethings to live in shared housing with 2-3 roommates. They would share kitchens, fridges, everything. And these houses weren't even that great to begin with.

Is the younger generation less willing to do things like that? Or move further out, or move to a smaller town where the prospects are better? Are the prospects actually there in smaller towns? They might be more with remote work now.

Like I barely hear about families moving to different cities for a job anymore when that was more common growing up in the 80s.

Re: Why can't today's young adults leave the nest? Blame high housing costs

#17
post #8

I wonder how much of this is also due to either an unwillingness to live with someone or difficulty making friends? I know that where I live the rent on a 1 bedroom apartment would be difficult for most young people, but half of a 2 bedroom apartment would be do-able at minimum wage. For reference, I am thinking 1500 and 1800 per month respectively for rent on 1 and 2 bedroom apartments, which seems to be the going r…

If you're trying to save for a downpayment (as many professionals care to) then staying at home certainly helps accumulate that faster, but I expect much of this demo staying with parents are making the median wage or lower. They have the same dream.

Re: Why can't today's young adults leave the nest? Blame high housing costs

#18

I don’t think society has yet realized the cascading effects this will have on fertility rate and compression of the demographic pyramid.

This 2018 paper is quite clear [1] that, for example, immigration reduces native fertility. Yet immigration continues to be sold as the solution to ailing fertility. One can only conclude that society, or rather its rulers, at best do not care.

[1] The effect of immigration shocks on native fertility outcomes: evidence from a natural experiment - https://izajodm.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40176-018...

Re: Why can't today's young adults leave the nest? Blame high housing costs

#19

I don’t think society has yet realized the cascading effects this will have on fertility rate and compression of the demographic pyramid.

Oh in Europe politicians dont care that the local population is declining. The US tries to solve it by banning abortions, but that’s going to cause more issues than solve. In Europe they just welcome anyone and then put them on benefits. I am not against migration but those poor souls arrive in Europe to escape poverty and end up being poor here because they face the same challenges as the locals.
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