The milestones associated with adulthood — buying a home, paying off student debt, and starting a family — have become dramatically more difficult to achieve. The issue is not that younger generations reject responsibility or lack ambition. Rather, it is a rational concern about affordability, specifically economic costs and barriers that Generation Z did not create.
Start with housing. From the founding of our nation, home and land ownership have been cornerstones of the American dream that symbolized stability and stimulated upward mobility. In just under two decades, the average age of an American homebuyer rose from 39 to 59 years old.
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A recent survey found that 90% of Gen Z want to own a home someday, but 79% believe they are priced out of that dream. This sentiment is supported by the economic reality that home prices have risen faster than wages. Federal Reserve Economic Data analytics for the fourth quarter of 2025 show that the median sales price of a house is $405,300, while the median personal income is $45,140. Compare that to the fourth quarter of 1985, when the median home price was $86,800, and the median personal income was $28,700.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNDOES BIDEN GREEN CODES INDUSTRY SAID TO ADD $20K TO HOME COSTS
In 1985, a home cost approximately 3.6 times one’s income, but that same house today costs 11.9 times the median personal income.
Skyrocketing rents and high interest rates compound the problem, consuming a large share of income and making it difficult to save for a down payment. When secure housing becomes unattainable, other life milestones such as marriage, children, and long-term financial planning are delayed.
Next is higher education. Many members of Gen Z were encouraged to pursue college as the only reliable pathway to success. Tuition subsequently rose, student lending expanded, and universities faced little pressure to control costs because the government subsidized student loans and bailed out loan delinquents. Some graduates found their degrees had strong returns for their investment, while others entered adulthood with substantial debt and degrees that did not match the outcomes promised.
Recent data show that total outstanding federal student loan debt reached $1.8 trillion in 2025, held by 42.8 million borrowers, averaging nearly $42,000 per debtor. Borrowers have a responsibility to repay the money they took out with interest, and those monthly payments carry real consequences. Every dollar spent repaying student loans is a dollar diverted from savings, a mortgage, or the costs of starting a family and raising children.
As student loan debt has become the second-highest consumer debt category after mortgages, the cost of education is delaying wealth-building and is becoming yet another obstacle to financial independence for many young adults.
Finally, comes childcare. For young couples hoping to start families, daycare costs have become prohibitive — often rivaling monthly rent or mortgage payments.
According to World Population Review, in 2025, the average cost of center-based care for an infant was $1,230 per month, approximating 10%-20% of yearly family income. Annual childcare costs were the most expensive in the District of Columbia, at $28,356 for an infant and $22,714 for a 4-year-old. In many areas, childcare for two children might exceed monthly housing costs, leading to intense financial strain on families.
Every generation has faced its own set of pressures and frustrations, yet economic data shows clear shifts for Gen Z: surging housing prices, lingering student debt, and stubbornly high childcare costs. Delays in marriage and parenthood are often framed as cultural drift or a change in values. In reality, they reflect a shift in economic conditions. Many young adults want families but prioritize the financial security necessary to support one. Policymakers should therefore focus on the root causes of unaffordability that are standing in the way of financial stability, strong families, and economic opportunity.
IN FOCUS: THE REAL REASON FERTILITY IS FALLING
That means (1) increasing housing supply through zoning reform and faster permitting, reducing housing demand pressures, and removing government policies that inflate home prices; (2) expanding apprenticeships and trade pathways alongside four-year degrees, restoring accountability in higher education financing, and ending subsidies that drive tuition higher; and (3) pursuing tax and regulatory reforms that lower childcare costs and leave more money in the pockets of working Americans.
The price of adulthood has risen sharply, but young Americans are not asking for handouts or lower expectations. The goal is simply a system where hard work reliably leads to ownership, security, and family-building. Restoring affordability is key to unlocking the American dream for the next generation — the very promise previous generations experienced, and the one Gen Z still hopes to see restored.
Jake Matthews is a communications manager at the Heritage Foundation, where he specializes in media and public relations for energy, technology, and economic policy.
Nicole Huyer is a senior research associate for Heritage’s Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies.
