The Great Recession may have ended in 2009, but memories of it linger in the minds of millennials who watched their parents struggle to make ends meet.
With high levels of student loan debt and an unpredictable job market, many millennials are pursuing lives in tiny houses where they can live flexibly and mortgage free.
There are now approximately 10,000 tiny houses in the U.S., a relatively small number, but five years ago, there were a couple hundred less. The popularity of tiny homes continues to increase among both Baby Boomers who lost their homes or jobs during the recession, and debt-ridden millennials striving for financial freedom.
“Millennials saw their parents and friends lose their homes and work in jobs that they didn’t really like…Tiny houses give them the option to still retire, and they can live where they like,” tiny house owner and blogger Ryan Mitchell told USA Today. Mitchell is also the founder of an annual tiny house conference in Asheville, North Carolina.
Tiny house communities continue to develop across the nation; the communities imitate camp sites, since most tiny homes are built on trailers for ease of mobility.
“Millennials tend to love the flexibility of not being bound to one place and having the option to pick up and move if an irresistible job offer comes their way,” Dane O’Leary wrote in an article for Millennial Magazine.
Some of the other benefits of tiny houses are low utility bills, no mortgage, simple living, and flexibility — important pros for many millennials.
“It’s an elegant solution to a lot of problems that a lot of people are facing today,” Mitchell told USA Today. “It’s not for everyone, but for some, it’s just right.”
