In a survey of more than 2,500 Gen Z and millennial adults, most respondents said home ownership and freedom were central to their life goals.
Seventy-eight percent of those polled said “their goals are within reach, even as they recognize several factors making it more difficult today, such as housing affordability, inflation and the rising cost of living,” according to a press release. “The study’s findings also underscore the need for accessible financial education, particularly as young adults prepare for major life purchases.”
Anyone born between 1981 and 1996 is considered a millennial, while those born in 1997 and later are part of Gen Z.
The Chase survey found that 78% of millennials and Gen Z are concerned about how the economy may impact mortgage rates. But 72% said they do not share the same concerns when it comes to their ability to eventually purchase a home.
Additionally, 48% of respondents said they were delaying buying cars because of post-pandemic inventory levels, and almost 40% said student debt was having an adverse effect on their ability to buy a car or a home.
That’s why they think differently about what’s to come, according to the press release. With “a sense of freedom” central to their goals, 48% of survey-takers said they want to live debt-free and be able to travel. Furthermore, 70% said that having children was not part of the “American Dream” in their eyes, although the concept of family is important to them.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the United States has been seeing declining birth rates in recent years, prompting some experts to sound the alarm over the possible repercussions that could be felt across various aspects of society.
Respondents’ belief in their ability to achieve the “American Dream” differed based on locale, according to the Chase survey. Some 85% of people who took the survey in Miami, Florida, said they believe in their ability to attain it, while a lower 71% of respondents in Seattle, Washington, said they think they can achieve it.
When considering homeownership, 60% of respondents in Miami said they were confident they could meet that goal. But only 36% of those surveyed in Columbus, Ohio, and Boston, Massachusetts, said they felt the same way.
And in Riverside, California, 74% of those who took the survey said they had “strong confidence” in their ability to buy a car. But in Los Angeles, only 58% said the same.
“Additionally, many respondents are looking for support as they work toward the major life purchases that may be part of their ‘American Dream,’” the press release reads. “For example, more than half said they are unaware of down payment assistance programs for a home.”
Members of Gen Z and millennials in Phoenix, Arizona, Dallas, Texas, and Baltimore, Maryland, also participated in the Chase survey.
