this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
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A Boring Dystopia
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Ok, if you are a middle class parent with a little bit of savings, and one of your child wants to buy a house, wouldn't you do everything you can with your money to help them too?
You don't have to be rich to want the best for your kids, and I really hate the selfish boomer mentalities of "oh I have it hard back in my day, so I'm not going to help my kids with anything to teach them a lesson about life." It's fucked up.
You're looking at it backwards. Nobody is saying that it's bad to help your family succeed. They're saying that it's fucked up that the only way gen-Z adults can afford homes is for their parents to pay their way.
I mean, this is the point I'm trying to make and I am agreeing with your statement here, and I honestly don't know what exactly we are disagreeing about.
The word "Nepotism" does have a negative connotation, so the article title is saying to me: "Helping your family succeed is nepotism and that's bad.". At least, that's the way I read it. Did I interpret it wrong?
The point is more "Success requires help from your family, and that's bad". There's nothing wrong with helping your kids succeed, but if economic conditions preclude most people without help from their parents from success, then success becomes intrinsically linked to the success of your parents. That sort of economic situation balloons into overt classism very quickly, which is the bad part.
But none of that is nepotism. It's a stupid word choice for this article.
The article just uses the prefix "nepo-", from the Latin for nephew/descendent, implying that the market is dominated by homebuyers that are distinguished by being someone's descendent.
Class mobility is the term. We still have it, but mostly in one direction.
"We all float down here." 😅
Two sides to a coin, and also the difference between micro and macro. On an individual level, of course you're gonna help your kids, but on a large scale if help from family is required despite being otherwise doing everything you need to go (working, not squandering your money, etc), that's just bad news for the economy, and indeed promotes "nepotism", the bad kind.
Some peoples don't have very nice parents, but that's besides the point. The point people are trying to get across is that you shouldn't have to depend on the generosity and fortune of your parents to ever dream of owning a home.
This isn't a criticism of parents wanting give their kids a headstart, it a criticism of dog eat dog capitalism.
I got curious about how the rate of home ownership compares now to in years prior. I found this chart on the Wikipedia article. That says that since the early 70s, the rate of home ownership has varied between just over 60% and just under 70%, and we're right about in the middle of the range now, coming off of a low about five years ago. I feel like people have this image that everyone has been able to afford a home until the last decade or so, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
On the other hand, wage stagnation is a very real problem, and my personal opinion is that it's a critical one for the country to address because a strong middle class has been key to our success for ages.
Then place the blame on capitalism instead of blaming what good parents are forced to do to help their kids under the current broken system, which was my point.
The point is that less and less people are in this position. Middle class parents with savings? What is this, 1985?
Many people saved up a decent amount money during COVID in the States, so I think that the cultural shift towards having a good amount of saving in bank accounts is starting for middle class Americans, especially given the economic uncertainties right now.
A few thousand saved up because of government programs and policies that have now largely expired isn't gonna net you a house anywhere in the US afaik.
They’re just about through those savings. Inflation + “catch up” vacations are the culprits. Look at credit card debt and that is before student loan payments restarted.
https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2023/08/21/americas-pandemic-savings-are-running-out#:~:text=Research%20by%20Hamza%20Abdelrahman%20and,by%20the%20end%20of%20September.
That's a bit depressing, but good to know.
You seem to only be reaching for the "take this comment as a personal attack on my situation" part and missing the "this is a worrying trend if the requirement of home ownership is a stable family. Or stated more simply inference vs implication, pause being the "main character" of this comment section for a moment, because no one is discussing you. It would be helpful if you would stop inferring that we are. We have no control over your inferences.
To the topic, a stable family is something you are born into, an inheritance of its own. No one chooses their parents. The topic isn't "being a bad parent is badass!" but instead that "inheriting good parents" is now a requirement for home ownership. If you cannot see through this lens, I doubt further commentary would assist.
I love this and it's a reminder that nearly every comment section needs.
Please don't put words in my mouth. Thanks.
No such thing lol
Do anything for your kids != do everything for your kids. I get where you are coming from but putting kids in a house they possibly can't afford can be a bigger issue later down the road.
But the housing market is so messed up right now that even "starter homes" are completely unaffordable to people that doesn't make ridiculous amounts of money, and that's a trend for everywhere in the States even in previously low cost of living areas.
In other words, the "house that normal people can afford" is going extinct, and that is actual messed up part, not parents helping their kids survive a messed up housing market.
It will just create an ever greater divide between the haves and have nots