Members of Generation Z are more anxious than Millennials about the possibility of losing their homes if the United States enters a recession, according to new polling data.
A survey by LendingTree found that 27 percent of Gen Z respondents expressed concern that a recession would result in the loss of their housing. In comparison, only 23.4 percent of Millennials said the same.
Why It Matters
The heightened anxiety among Gen Z speaks to how younger Americans, many of whom are just beginning their financial independence, are grappling with high rent, stagnant wages, and rising costs of living.
The housing affordability crisis has been a pressing issue in recent years, and these findings suggest that Gen Z may be disproportionately vulnerable to economic downturns.
The disparity in concern may also reflect differences in life stages. Millennials, many of whom are in their 30s and early 40s, may already own homes or have a more stable financial footing than Gen Z, which includes people in their teens and early-to-mid 20s.
What To Know
According to the data, Gen Z respondents not only worry more about housing stability in a recession but also report higher levels of economic stress overall.
Their concern about housing loss was one of the highest among a range of recession-related anxieties surveyed across generations.
While Gen Z and Millennials had roughly the same likelihood of saying a recession would happen in the next six months, more Gen Z-ers were also concerned about their partners losing their jobs (23.2 percent versus 19.9 percent).
Other indicators in the data also suggest that Gen Z tends to express greater skepticism about their long-term financial prospects compared to Millennials and older cohorts.
More Gen Z respondents were also getting side gigs to prepare for a possible recession than millennials. While 31 percent of the younger cohort said they were adding on an additional job or side hustle, just 28 percent of Millennials said the same. That was compared to 20 and 12 percent of Gen X and Baby Boomers, respectively.
This aligns with broader trends seen in national financial surveys that show younger generations carrying higher student loan debts and struggling to enter the housing market.
Across all age groups, roughly the same percentage felt the Trump administration’s actions would make a recession more likely, but this was highest amongst Baby Boomers at 66 percent.
What People Are Saying
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek: “When it comes to housing costs, many in Gen Z are just at the beginning of their careers and subsequently their income journey. A higher percentage of their earnings goes to housing costs, and any job loss would present a situation where they could potentially no longer make payments.”
Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek: “Gen Z-ers are more worried because they haven’t been through the same financial fire drills. Millennials have been hit with the Great Financial Crisis in ’08-09, the LTCM collapse in the late 90s, the dot-com bust, and a decade of flat returns from 2000 to 2009. They’ve seen markets wipe out portfolios and recover. That kind of experience builds a thicker skin, which is probably why they’re less worried about a recession taking their homes.”
Drew Powers, the founder of Illinois-based Powers Financial Group, told Newsweek: “28 percent to 24 percent is a relatively small difference, but perhaps it is because Gen Z has not yet gone through a meaningful recession in their working years. Afterall, the COVID downturn would have occurred when most of Gen Z was still in high school or college.”
What’s Next
As concerns about a potential recession persist, the housing market will likely remain a key area of focus for policymakers.
Programs aimed at increasing affordable housing access, improving rent protections, and addressing youth unemployment may become more urgent.
“Whereas Millennials are more established in their careers and have more savings, a recession could be devastating to the finances of Gen Z,” Beene said. “Any job loss would not just put their current housing situation in jeopardy, but also impair their ability to use housing as a long-term wealth builder.”
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