Millennials struggling to buy a home want ‘out of touch’ Boomer parents to get their reality |
Millennials trying to buy homes in today’s economy are up against a rock and a hard place. Unlike for their Boomer parents, the dream of buying a home continues to feel further away.
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Millennials “continue to be fenced out of homeownership.” The organization reported that in 2025, the average age of first-time homeownership rose to 40 years old, up from 38 just the year before, with the share of first-time buyers falling to a record low of 21%. “The historically low share of first-time buyers underscores the real-world consequences of a housing market starved for affordable inventory,” said Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research.
Millennials are venting on Reddit
Millennials are airing their frustrations amongst each other in the Reddit thread r/Millennials, sharing their stories and experiences with their Boomer parents, with many calling Boomers “out of touch.”
@thejennifink The disconnect with reality is real but I can’t stop bringing it up. #housingmarket #zillow #realestate #boomers #millennials #millennialsoftiktok #home ♬ original sound – Jenni Fink
The disconnect with reality is real but I can’t stop bringing it up. #housingmarket #zillow #realestate #boomers #millennials #millennialsoftiktok #home ♬ original sound – Jenni Fink
One Millennial wrote, “This topic is like hitting a dead horse, but I just needed to rant. Back story, I work out at a gym with people who are our parents age, and of the boomer generation. I overheard them saying, ‘we bought our first home for $65,000. I’m sure kids these days are only paying $125,000 for that same house’. When they said that, I burst out laughing. How are they so out of touch? It drives me nuts.”
Another Millennial replied, “Willful ignorance. Takes four seconds to go on Zillow and find out that’s bullsh*t .”
And another shared, “I’m not kidding… when I showed my dad actual data on itemized COL inflation, he said that ‘the data just says that but that doesn’t mean it’s real’…. This is a guy that I would normally consider smart and with it. When it comes to these kinds of topics of societal degradation, he can’t accept it. He is willfully ignorant to things being worse now for me than they were for him at my age.”
@mel_owens & invent a time machine. #boomer #homeowner #housingmarket #homebuying #comedy ♬ original sound – Melanie Owens
& invent a time machine. #boomer #homeowner #housingmarket #homebuying #comedy ♬ original sound – Melanie Owens
The Zillow experiment that actually worked
Others explained how they attempted to explain to their Boomer parents how expensive homes currently are. Another shared, “Last Christmas, the sibs and I collectively managed to remember all the addresses we had lived in in our childhoods and Zillowed all of them to show our parents. All are still standing. All were built in the 70s. All are rural or suburban/small towns. Parents were astounded at what these 50 year houses are going for today, especially compared to what they paid for them 30-40 years ago.”
Millennials added their conversations with parents who got defensive. One wrote, “I legit just had this same conversation! They say ‘complain when it’s 14% interest’ excuse me, your house was 60k and dad was making 40, don’t piss on me and tell me it’s raining. That fancy 250k house is now like 600k…get a grip, average house is 438k.”
Another shared, “My dad still gives me a hard time about renting, constantly tells me how I should invest in a house. I sat him down one day and opened up a mortgage calculator, showed him how with the current interest rates it just wasn’t gonna happen- he seemed to get it. For a little bit anyways haha. I saw him last month and he told me again how rent is wasted money yadda yadda.”
How to talk to your Boomer parents about housing
Millennials can have healthy and productive conversations with their Boomer parents when discussions about buying a home become tense or uncomfortable, Aly Bullock, LMFT, a licensed marriage and family therapist with Paired, tells Upworthy.
Here are three things Millennials can say to their parents during these tough talks:
Phrase #1: “I understand that we have different views on this, and that’s okay with me.”
Bullock explains, “This acknowledges that you understand their POV and you are still willing to stick with your own opinion. It is a very gentle way of setting a boundary and letting them know you are comfortable having different opinions.”
Phrase #2: “I would love to hear you out, and my request is that in return you respect my right to make a personal decision even if it does not align with what you’ve shared.”
“Even when their kids are grown, parents still love the chance to influence their children,” says Bullock. “This phrase lets your parents know that you would love to hear their opinion, you welcome it, AND reminds them gently that you are grown and they should offer you similar respect.”
Phrase #3: “This conversation seems to keep causing tension between us, and I’d rather focus on something we have in common right now. Can we set it aside for a bit?”
According to Bullock, “This acknowledges the tension without placing blame. It gives the adult child an opportunity to stop the conversation before it deteriorates further, while emphasizing the positive pieces of the relationship.”
Finally, she notes that it may take placing boundaries around these conversations. “Remember that you don’t have to tell your parents everything. Some things are better left unsaid,” says Bullock. “The truth is that parents change as they age and may or may not be able to cope well with generational differences or unmet expectations. Try to have compassion for them as you decide which things to keep to yourself in order to protect your own mental health.”
This article originally appeared one year ago. It has been updated.
A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing.
Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold.
A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen.
Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing.
Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth.
Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:
Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis
Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community
Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or in one of 60 countries where we work around the globe
Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door
Shop or donate at your local Habitat ReStore
Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone.
Visit habitat.org/open-door to learn more and get involved today.
If you’re a parent you’re likely in one of two categories: parents who have never heard of pinworms or parents who shuddered at the headline. Parents are not really given any sort of warning for all of the eyebrow raising situations that occur in childhood and one dad has found out that there was a lot left out of that non-existent parenting handbook. If you thought lice was bad, well, frankly, you have no idea.
Justin, a dad that runs the TikTok page parentingcheerleader took to social media to tell the world of the current nightmare fuel parenting situation he was experiencing. He’s also doing parents on social media a solid by giving them a heads up on the disturbing secret plaguing the parenting world: pinworms.
So what exactly are pinworms?
The viral video starts out with no trigger warning before he says though clenched teeth, “my son has worms in his anus.” Yeah, you read that right. It’s a thing. A slightly terrifying but totally normal thing.
About 20% of kids will get pinworms at some point. They can affect anyone, but adults rarely get them because they generally have better hygiene habits and awareness about putting their hands in their mouth after touching surfaces. (You usually get a pinworm infection by accidentally swallowing the eggs. Yeah… sorry for that) The first signs will be an itchy butthole, trouble sleeping, and irritability or loss of........