Rent prices are so high that Gen Z can't afford to live alone anymore

Millennials: Uhm, we've been living that dream for over twenty years now.

I'm over 40 (one of the ancient Millennials) and literally I have only been able to live alone for exactly four years out of the twenty-three years since I moved out of my parents. I currently live with a partner, because, you guessed it, it's about the only way we can afford things now.

Are we pretending that millennials are affording apartments alone? Cause I know very few doing that. Moving back in with your parents, though, that shit's common.

Landlords dream of a future where they can charge so much for rent that you need 3 generations of people crammed into a tiny apartment to make payments.

Just a reminder.

In 1960, minimum wage was $1.00/hour and the average home was $11,000.

I'm a disabled millennial. I live in a dangerous old house with 5 roommates and I am still spending over half my money on rent.

the traditional way of life has been snuffed out by the forces of capitalism. there's no point trying to live a normal life anymore, we have to forge a new path

That's hardly a new situation.

The only people I know that live alone do so in extremely tiny apartments in unpopular areas.

The only real way to buy is as a couple, and has been for decades.

We need a new deal, I mean a new new deal. Because this is getting ridiculous, I'm lying it was ridiculous 20 years ago, now it is just the reason why dystopian fiction is impossible to write, how can you top real life?

didn't this happen a long time ago to an earlier generation

Gen Z are what... 26 at most?

Yeah, not many millennials or gen X were able to afford to live alone before their 30s, stop thinking you're the only ones who had it hard for years after being done with school.

Heck, my parents came out of university with unemployment at 12+% and interest rates at 18+%, sounds like fun, right? Good climate to think about owning a first house! I wonder what they did... Oh, that's right, they rented an apartment from my great grandmother and lived right above her and my grandparents! A fucking dream, right?

They purchased their first house when they were in their early/mid thirties.

Wanna know how I managed to do better than them? I got 10k from my father's life insurance after he hung himself when I was 26 and let me tell you, I would rather have continued renting.

Completely off topic, but in the article they say some apartment complexes are offering "private liquor lockups." Wtf?

Neither can Gen-X.

Gen Z AND millenials

20-somethings have always had roommates.

I got evicted this year so I feel it

"anymore" implies that until recently that wasn't the case

Yes, the rent is too damn high, but living in an apartment alone has been a luxury for young people as long as I can remember. I sure as hell couldn't afford it when I was in my twenties. I lived in a pantry for a couple years and didn't complain. This is a weird measuring stick.

I mean, people are reportedly lonely as fuck these days too, so maybe there is a silver lining to this terrible situation?

Edit: Thanks for the downvotes y’all. Rage and negativity are apparently the only appreciated responses here. Lol

living alone is inefficient for so many reasons.
it should be rare - and i expect it has been in the past.

i mean its an expensive luxury for those who like it and can afford it , should not be seen as a norm, status quo, or something that most people "lack".

i'm not saying rent isnt too high a fraction of living costs, and i am in favour of seriously considering rent controls in ome city central business districts.

But I dont see a benefit in setting or condoning unrealistic expectatioins.

Put another way, if a city implemrnted rent controls aiming to improve affordability, but ended up with declining household size and lower population density in cities, then that'd be a bad outcome.

The first 38K of my pre-tax income goes to renting a 500 sq ft efficiency. The change in the last 20 years is astonishing. I remember in high school, being exhorted to put aside at least $300/month for rent.

I don't think Gen Z'ers are smart enough to survive living on their own anyway. If you put enough of them together in the same room they might have enough brain cells left, that haven't been rotted away by TikTok, to make it.

So? I'm Gen-X and I've only lived alone for approximately 1 year of my life combined, and most of that was in my mid-30s when I was already 15 years into an above-average-paying IT career.

This is nothing new.