Gen Z Is Being Forced to Live Like This

Well, Jenzie doesn't have enough money to live alone anymore. Young people are calling up their parents to leave the front porch door unlocked and move back to their childhood room. Others are taking a page from friends and new girl and living with their friends and a bunch of roommates. If all else fails, many Jenzers are just going to live in an RV or a car parked outside a Walmart parking lot. One thing is certain, rent has gotten so expensive that Gen Z is making sitcoms a reality. I guess home-cooked meals never hurt anyone as well. The purpose of this video isn't to make fun of Gen Z, but to shine a spotlight on an obviously glaring issue that seems to have been normalized over the past decade or so. An issue that has long-term implications for our culture, economy, and our society going forward. Sometimes it's hard to imagine just how high rent has increased here in 2026. Everyone knows that houses were way cheaper back in the 1960s, but most of Gen Z isn't worried or even focused on getting a house right now. They're focused on finding a good one-bedroom apartment. If we go back to the year 1960, of course, it's a way different time, but it's a pretty affordable year. A one-bedroom apartment cost only around $60 to $80 a month. Even if we adjusted that to today's inflation, that would be around $700 a month. Let us go back to the year 2006. It wasn't too long ago in the grand scheme of things. Like many older genzers like myself, we were in elementary school watching Drake and Josh, Hannah Montana, or playing the Nintendo Wii. Little did we know we should have invested in Nvidia stock or bought our first house instead of watching all these silly shows. In 2006, the price of renting a onebedroom apartment in the city was about $700 to $900 or around $1,000 to around $1,200 adjusted for today's inflation. I mean, Jim from the office, he only needed one roommate working as an entrylevel office employee. If the office was made today, Jim would have like three other roommates and the house would smell like who knows what. The mid-200s were still pretty affordable. Work in an office, make $20 an hour, drive back home in your $200 a month Toyota Camry with your $1 a gallon gas, stopping at McDonald's for your dollar value meal. I feel like this adds insult to injury for Gen Z. Many of us were alive and we noticed just how affordable things were at that time. We saw our parents work very hard and be rewarded by being able to afford a mortgage. Shame on Gen Z for being glued on Club Penguin or watching Peyton Manning win the Super Bowl in 2007. We should have been reading investing books or building capital. You know, compound interest. I joke about this because the cards dealt to Gen Z are argued by many as a being dealt a pretty tough hand. >> I don't think people understand right now the average amount of money you have to make in order to live by yourself is $60,000 a year. Meaning you have to get paid $30 an hour come here. And that is just to cover rent. That's not including furniture. That's not including other bills. That's not including car issues. Right? If you were to put all that together, you'd have to make about $75,000 a year, meaning you have to get paid over $ 35 or $40 an hour. So, if you know somebody that is making you feel bad because you live at home with their parents, unless they are making $40 an hour at their job, they're definitely lying to you about their living situation. They either live in a closet or they have four roommates. There's nothing wrong with staying with your parents right now because at this moment in time, the new generation, they can't save any money. The only thing going up is the cost of things, not the actual payment towards their lives. >> And in terms of housing and rent, it's 100% true. Yeah, Gen Z has access to technology and many more ways to make money compared to previous generations, but what I really want to focus on here is housing and how it's gotten so difficult. So, now the year is 2026, 6 years after the pandemic. There's like 10 streaming services out there, which at least makes for a pretty good age of television, if you will, but trust in institutions and the economy, they're in the dumps. Much of Gen Z, especially older Gen Z, are entering their prime adulthood years, wanting to start a family, maybe make a business, travel, or maybe just focus on themselves. But first and foremost, they need a place to live. Well, if you're looking for a one-bedroom apartment today, you're going to spend around $1,500 to $2,000 depending on the city. So, let me get this straight. Jenz's grandparents, they were paying around $60 to $100 a month to rent an apartment. Now, if Jenzie wants to live alone and pay for a one-bedroom apartment, they're going to spend around $2,000. We went from $100 to $2,000 in just a few generations. That's absolutely insane. And of course, this has frustrated many Jenzers out there. >> I pay $2,000 a month for a one-bedroom, 750 foot apartment, and I posted an apartment tour a couple days ago, and I am floored by the amount of comments saying that that is a good deal, and I should be really happy about that. No. In what world is $2,000 a month, $24,000 a year for a 750 square foot apartment ever a good deal? I don't understand that. That just proves that we are living in a dystopian world where rent prices are insanely out of control. In what world would 750 ft be $2,000 a month? I have absolutely no idea. >> So, Jenz has several options here. Spend like half of their income to live alone or live with some roommates or live with their parents. Many have taken the option to live with roommates. Now, this isn't anything new. Many generations have been doing this for a while. But what has changed is how many roommates people are living with. And this isn't just happening in mega cities like New York or LA. It's happening everywhere all across the country. And the data actually backs this up today. Over 30% of adults are living in shared households. Many of these homes or apartments, they're going to have three to four adults living all under one roof. That's a huge shift from the past where sharing a place usually meant just living with one roommate. Ever since the mid 2000s, the number of people living with roommates has jumped significantly. So, this isn't just like a city thing anymore. It's happening everywhere. Everywhere you look at in the United States, it's becoming the new normal for how people are able to afford rent. To put it simply, our individualistic society is starting to reach a point where it really doesn't work anymore. Let me explain. The American dream has always been built on this idea that you have to have your own space, your own car, your own house, your own life. That independence has been seen as the definition of success. But the reality is maintaining that kind of lifestyle has become incredibly expensive. For decades, especially after World War II, Americans were able to live this pretty comfortably. getting your own place, getting your own car, having a little extra things like a boat or a second home. It felt attainable for a lot of Americans. But today, our society is still built on those same individualistic expectations. While the economy has completely changed over time, costs have gone up way faster than incomes. And now that model just really isn't holding up the way that it used to. And you can really see this shift happening right now with housing. It's becoming much more common than ever for Gen Z to live in a smaller space or more importantly live with more people. Not just one roommate, but three, four, sometimes even five people sharing the same place just to make rent work. That's a big change from previous generations where living with others usually was temporary and much less crowded. I'm 35 and I live with a roommate. And no, it's not a significant other. Not family, not someone I know, but a stranger I found on Facebook. And no, I'm not ashamed of it because those who are in relationships get to split rent, mortgage, bills with their significant other, another human. And society deems that's normal. So, I'm just doing the same with another human. But why? Because life got expensive moving out. And while living paycheck to paycheck got me through moving out of my parents' house and into my own space and living freely and alone with no one to judge my bad habits, it's not serving me financially anymore. And so I decided to share my space and find someone for the extra bedroom and bath I had intended to use as a guest room. >> And what's even more interesting is this kind of living situation. It's actually pretty normal in other parts of the world. In places like Italy or Spain, it's also very common to live with your parents longer. Not because people are lazy, but because housing is so expensive and wages they haven't really kept up. Sound familiar? Even in countries like Canada or the UK, which are pretty similar to the US economically, you're starting to see more people live in shared homes with multiple roommates, multiple families just to be able to afford rent. >> The Wi-Fi jumping. I get a hot meal every night, freshly cooked. Why? Why would I move out? I promise you I'm moving out when my husband comes to carry me over his shoulder. That's when I'm moving out. You want me to move out to to pay rent and bills? >> So, in a weird way, the US is starting to look a lot more like the rest of the world when it comes to housing. And all of this kind of raises a bigger question. If the US economy starts to slow down or become more similar to those of other countries over time, is this going to become the new normal? Because what used to be seen as temporary, like having a couple roommates in your early 20s, is now stretching into people's late 20s or even 30s. It seems like this is the direction where the country is headed. There's also another major factor that Gen Z is having to deal with that previous generations couldn't even fathom. AI based rent schemes across the country, especially in fast growing cities like Nashville, Austin, and Charlotte. Many apartment complexes are owned or managed by huge real estate firms and private equity. Instead of setting rent based on simple supply and demand like it's always been, a lot of these apartment companies are now using pricing software to constantly adjust rents in real time. One of the biggest examples is a company called Real Page, which has been the center of multiple lawsuits. The claim is that this software helps landlords coordinate pricing strategies by analyzing massive amounts of data across competing properties. In some cases, this software has been used by property managers controlling millions of units across the United States. I personally have experienced this before. I was looking for an apartment downtown, maybe like a twobedroom, pretty solid price. The price was not bad. I added it to my watch list. I then checked the exact same unit the next morning and the price literally shot up $700. Like that can't be real, but it was. And what world should housing be traded like the price of Pokemon cards or tech stocks? This story and the stories of millions of Americans highlights the brash and cruel practice of renting in the age of AI. My rent was $1,700 a month for a onebedroom. And then I got a notice that it was going up to 2,200. So I said, "Peace. See you. I'm not doing this." Um, and then I get a call that's like, "Oh, was that price the problem? Like we can fix that." And I'm like, "Were you playing chicken with my rent?" >> Our landlord said our rent was going up $200 for the next year. And we said, "Uh, how about it goes up just a hundred instead?" And he said, "Sure." Which then it's like, "Was it going up $200 or that was just an idea you had?" It makes life very difficult to plan for and it treats people's like ones and zeros. This is a practice where rents can change extremely fast. sometimes on a weekto-eek basis or even a day-to-day basis depending on whatever the algorithm recommends. You talk to the apartment leasing agents and they say, "Oh, we have absolutely no way to change the prices. It's all controlled by our AI system." Really, we're having a face-to-face communication with someone only for them to say that they can't do it because the AI told them so. Instead of landlords competing to lower prices to fill units, the system can actually encourage them to keep rents higher, even if some apartments remain empty. There have even been reports and lawsuits claiming that this kind of system can push rents way higher by several percentage points. I mean, that's happened to me. I literally saw that happen in real time. A few percentage points might not sound like much, but when you're paying anywhere from $1,800 to $2,000 a month, it quickly adds up. And this is exactly where things start to feel different for Gen Z. It's not just that housing is expensive. It's the pricing itself becoming more optimized and way more aggressive. You're not just competing with other renters anymore. You're competing with an algorithm designed to maximize revenue. So, when you combine that with high demand, limited supply, and rising cost overall, it creates a situation where renters feel like they're constantly being squeezed with little control and them feeling helpless. And for a generation that's already struggling to afford a place to live, this just adds a whole different layer to the problem that really didn't exist the same way for previous generations. The apartment complexes that use this automated system have excess inventory. The apartment prices are kept so high due to a whole slew of investor terms. People with millions of dollars to throw around are okay with their apartments being empty at a high price until that unicorn renter comes by and signs a lease. But there comes a point where ethics and morals should override an extra 4% of revenue, especially in a time where folks are being strapped for cash. But hey, that's just my opinion. And what's crazy is that this isn't just speculation. There's actual data pointing to the shift. Some of these pricing systems are being used across millions of units nationwide with companies like Real Page managing data on over 20 million properties globally and feeding that into pricing recommendations. researchers in government reports, they found that areas that are using this kind of software, of course, they tend to have higher rents compared to similar markets that aren't using those AI softwares. And in some cases, renters were paying around $70 to $100 more per month on average just because it was an AI pricing model. across the country. That has added up to billions of dollars in extra rent paid by tenants just in a single year. And of course, this model is way different than how things used to be. In the past, if an apartment sat empty, landlords would usually lower the price to fill it. Now, with these systems, they can strategically adjust the price to be the opposite. The lawsuits claim that some of these softwares have even discouraged lowering rent on vacant units and instead recommend holding them until prices go higher. So instead of natural competition bringing prices down, everything starts to move together and stay elevated. That's a huge shift from 10 to 20 years ago. It means that Gen Z isn't just dealing with expensive housing. They're dealing with a system that is becoming more optimized to keep it expensive. >> I just got our rent renewal thing for our apartment complex and it's going up by $300 a month. We already pay with all the fees and everything included $2,000 a month and now we're going to be paying $2,300 a month for this tiny apartment. So, no, Gen Z, you're not crazy for thinking that this whole housing situation is broken because it is. Your feelings are valid. And let's be honest, not just Gen Z. All Americans are facing these issues. Millennials have been dealing with rocky economic headwinds for almost two decades now. >> I'm 30 and I still live at home with my parents. Growing up, living at home past like going to school, like university, college, whatever it may be, was seen as like embarrassment and like super wrong. Obviously, like when I grew up, it was like you go to university, you get your degree, then you get a job straight away, and then you follow those steps like meet your partner, get a dog, get your house, have your kid, do all those things. So, if you combine all these factors, it makes a lot of sense that Gen Z is having to live with one or more roommates. Apartments in the city where good jobs actually are are going to end up being a lot more expensive. Many cases, this may mean the death of privacy. Unless your roommate is never around, which can happen, but not always. For those that live in a place with three or more roommates, privacy can be a luxury, and basic things like shores can be a daunting task. So, we made it clear that this was the last time that I was going to clean the whole entire place again. But this is me walking home after my 3-day vacation after he said he cleaned the place. And this is what him cleaning the place looks like when all he did was kind of like unnecessary things that he moved all my stuff above the laundry room that I was going to do anyway cuz I was going to do the whole entire place. But it's always like this do laundry. And I think this place was like this for 2 weeks, but I just wasn't doing it. I was like over it. I'm not picking this stuff up cuz right before this it was perfectly clean and he did it again and I'm so over it. I'm like I'm not doing this again. Like we have two months left of living here. Ultimately roommate living can be good and bad for people. It really just depends on the situation. Point I'm trying to make here is that this situation is becoming a lot more common. It means more Jenzers are having to rely on roommates not just really because they want roommates because it's the only way they can afford to live in their city. Like we discussed, this is a huge change from previous generations further delays common life milestones that many young people may want to achieve. Getting married, buying a house, or having kids. On the other hand, if Gen Z doesn't see those events as milestones, that's okay, too. But overall, the changing economic landscape is rapidly shifting the norms of our society in many ways that we won't fully understand just yet. If you don't want to live with a bunch of roommates and you miss your mom's cooking, living with your parents is starting to become a lot more common occurrence in the United States. >> When I moved off to college, I thought I was done with living under my parents roof for the rest of my life. I thought when you flew the nest, you flew the nest for good. So, I'm about to turn 30 in like a week. I'm literally packing up my apartment as we speak so that I can move back in with my parents. Again, this is something that's a lot more common in other countries. Living with parents can save young people money, but it changes the way we think about the American dream. Hey, I mean, their parents are already going to pay way less in property taxes. Might as well take advantage of it. The idea used to be move out, build your own life, and eventually your own home. The idea, it used to be move out, build your own life, and eventually your own home. Now, for a lot of people, the smartest financial move is actually staying put and living with your parents. Which brings us to one of the most overlooked parts of this whole conversation, property taxes. For those Jenzers and millennials that are actually able to buy a home, they're often stepping into a system where they end up paying way more than people who bought their house years ago. And it's not always obvious why. A lot of states offer tax protections or caps for older homeowners, especially for retirees, which keeps their property taxes relatively low, even as home values rise. Meanwhile, younger buyers are purchasing homes at today's much higher prices and getting taxed on the full value from day one. So, you can end up in a situation where a younger family buys a home and is paying5 or even $6,000 a year in property taxes while someone down the street who bought their house decades ago is paying a fraction of that. Not because they're doing anything wrong, but because the entire system rewards how long you've owned your home, not necessarily your financial situation at that moment. And for a generation that's already dealing with higher home prices, higher interest rates, and higher costs of living, it just adds another layer of pressure. And when you zoom out of this, it starts to affect behavior, too. Higher property taxes, they mean higher monthly costs, which push people back to renting or forcing them to stretch their budgets even further. It's making it harder for young people to build long-term wealth because more of your income is going toward your home or rent instead of saving or investing it. So, even when Gen Z does everything right and buys a house, the system is still tougher than it was for previous generations. Now, to be fair, there's a lot of reasons why these tax breaks exist. A lot of older homeowners are on fixed incomes, and these protections are meant to keep them from being priced out of their homes. But when you look at it from the perspective of a younger buyer trying to get started, it can feel like the system is totally skewed and tilted. Not intentionally unfair, but definitely a lot harder to break into. Young married couples will pay a whole lot more in federal, state, and local taxes for a generation that is already dealing with a pretty tough hand. It just seems pretty unfair to say the least. I feel like this topic is pretty bipartisan. Many people agree that young people are spending way too much on taxes compared to older generations. Why should a 34 year old parent of three kids be paying around $6,000 a year for property taxes while a retired couple aged 75 sitting on $1.5 million of stock and and living in a $1 million home be paying only $1,000 a year for property taxes? In my book, it just doesn't make sense. And it really seems like older Americans are dreaming while younger Americans are living through economic nightmares. After reflecting on all these causes, the picture becomes clear on why young Americans are struggling. Changing economic conditions in the United States are actively and in real time changing the very fabric of what the American dream means and stands for. A dream so out of reach for many, some would say that it's dead. But it doesn't have to be dead. The dream can be revived. It will take a lot of work and research from all of us. But it starts with everyone becoming informed on the state of our country and the world. It takes a society to blur out all the noise and misinformation polluting our conversations and algorithms. We must dive into the policies that affect our lives at every level of government. The moment we start waking up is the moment we start to take back our dream. Well guys, let me know what you think about the Gen Z and millennial housing situation in the comments section below. Have you or someone you know have had trouble buying a house or even looking for an apartment? Let me know in the comment section. Be sure to hit that like button, hit that subscribe button. It really helps us out and most importantly, it shines a spotlight on issues like this. And like always, we'll be back with another video.