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Millennial shuts down judgy boomers by comparing cost of 'luxuries' in 1980 vs 2025

The data backs him up.

via Canva

Millennial man says "luxuries" aren't the reason young people can't afford to live.

Millennials constantly lament the high cost of living and the fact that so-called "American dream" is out of reach for many of them. Housing prices have skyrocketed, as has the cost of a college education. Eating out has gotten drastically more expensive, and making food at home with fresh groceries is hardly any cheaper. It's just so hard, they say, to get a foothold in the modern economy. Boomers, who grew up in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, however, aren't wasting any sympathy tears.

One of the big talking points in the great American millennials versus baby boomers debate is that, yes, things are more expensive; but has the younger generation has knee-capped itself by its lavish spending habits that have prevented them from owning homes? If millennials stopped buying $14 avocado toast and $1,000 iPhones, would they be able to save enough for a down payment on a modest house?

Freddie Smith, 36, of Orlando, Florida, recently went viral on TikTok for a video in which he challenged the boomer argument with statistics from the Bureau of Labor, Federal Reserve, and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Smith believes that the older generations misunderstand millennial finances because their concept of luxury is based on 1980s economics. That's when most boomers were coming of age and buying their own family homes, and their ideas of saving up for a down payment and affording a monthly mortgage are heavily outdated.

Smith says that for baby boomers, essentials such as rent and child care were much more affordable, but items considered luxuries (TVs, CD players, computers) were much more expensive.

How is the economy different for millennials than it was for baby boomers?

"The main shift is that core essentials—housing, education, healthcare, and even food—have become more expensive," Smith said. "Housing and rent, for instance, now outpace wage growth, making homeownership feel unattainable for many. The cost of childcare has also skyrocketed, and food prices have increased.”

The home price to income ratio is currently at an all-time high. The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University writes, "In 2022, the median sale price for a single-family home in the US was 5.6 times higher than the median household income, higher than at any point on record dating back to the early 1970s." That ratio was closer to 2.5 in 1980.

Even transportation has skyrocketed. Buying a new car now costs about as much as the median yearly salary, with entry-level vehicles disappearing rapidly and being replaced with high-tech, fuel-efficient offerings.

"As a result, I think older generations have a different perspective on luxury versus necessity,” Smith continued. “They grew up in a time when hard work typically led to financial stability, whereas today, even with hard work, many people struggle with the high costs of housing, rent and medical expenses. Basic survival used to be far more affordable, allowing people more financial room to build a stable life."

  - YouTube  www.youtube.com  

Smith’s numbers don’t lie. For a person in the '80s to own three TVs, a CD player, a cellphone, a microwave, and a computer, it would cost them 3.5 years of rent or a 20% downpayment on the average home. So, it was irresponsible for someone in that period to purchase all of what was known then as luxuries.

However, for millennials, these "fancy toys" are a lot more affordable compared to the big ticket items of housing, childcare, and college education. Skimping out on them won't make a meaningful difference in the attempt to save up the massive amount of cash required for a down payment on a modern home. To wit:

"But if you skip that daily $6 Starbucks drink, you’ll have enough for the downpayment in 29.22 years," Yokahana joked in the comments.

"I hate that housing and transportation have become luxuries," Molly added.

"Imagine spending 3x your rent on a microwave," Donutdisaster wrote.

Older people may see millennials with multiple TVs in their home, along with iPhones and tablets, and think that money could be better saved up in service of the "American dream." But the truth is that those savings won't really help, and worse, they'll make life pretty unenjoyable in the meantime!


Why are luxury goods more affordable now than they were in the '80s?

The price of manufactured goods has steadily fallen over the last few decades due to technological improvements and trade policies that have allowed the U.S. to import goods from places where labor costs are cheaper.

"International, global competition lowers prices directly from lower-cost imported goods, and indirectly by forcing U.S. manufacturers to behave more competitively, with lower prices, higher quality, better service, et cetera," Sociologist Joseph Cohen of Queens University said, according to Providence Journal.

Even as recently as the early 2000s, a high-quality TV was likely to cost over $1,000. Nowadays you can get an equivalent, or better, television set for just a few hundred bucks.

Why are housing prices so high?

Housing prices in the US have soared due to the low inventory caused by the Great Recession, mortgage rates, and zoning laws that make building more challenging.

 Rents have increased considerably since the pandemic due to low inventory, inflation, barriers to home ownership, and the fact that more people want to live alone than with a roommate or romantic partner.

Smith’s breakdown of the economic changes over the past two generations makes a strong case for the idea that millennial financial troubles have more to do with systemic problems than spending habits. The boomers got a bad deal regarding luxury items, and the millennials with necessities. Wouldn’t living in a world where both were affordable in the same era be great?

This article originally appeared in February. It has been updated.

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This mom had little money for prom, but she still made her kids feel like a million bucks.

In Karin Klein's Southern California community, it's not unusual for families to drop close to $1,000 on a prom dress.

Klein's family has never been one to splurge in that way. As a parent, Klein was always uncomfortable with spending money on something that might only be used once. And her kids' awareness of fashion-related environmental and human rights concerns kept the family on an tight budget.

"There were always a lot of talks [with the kids] about where we place our values," Klein says.

Spending that much for prom might sound over the top, but it's not unheard of. American families are spending on average more than $600 on prom-related expenses according to a 2017 Yahoo Prom Across America survey. For many families struggling to pay rent and put food on the table, $600 isn't just a splurge, it's out of reach.

But prom night doesn't have to cost as much as a used car, and parents like Klein have found realistic ways to keep it affordable.

GIF from "Mean Girls."

Here is how the Klein family spent a fraction of the average prom-related costs in three big spending areas:

1. Attire and accessories

With two kids who wore dresses and one who wore a tux, the Kleins experimented with a variety of options for prom wear.

They purchased new: For her oldest daughter's first prom, Klein bought a slip dress, which she paid to have altered because it was too long. Klein then hand-made a shawl and bought her daughter shoes from a discount store.

Total cost: $160

They reused, borrowed from friends, and wore hand me downs: The next year, her daughter borrowed a dress from a friend and re-wore the shoes she had bought the prior year.

And having used her older sister's first prom dress as a play outfit as a child, Klein's younger daughter decided she wanted to wear that dress to her first prom. They paid to have it cleaned and pressed.

Total cost: Cleaning fees

The dress the Kleins bought new (left) and their eBay steal (right). Photos by Karin Klein, used with permission.

They bought on clearance and from auction websites: For cute shoes and accessories at a great price, the family headed to Payless.

Klein and her girls shopped around, but they didn't really like anything, and the dresses were very expensive. They turned to eBay and found a vintage slip gown for $7.

"I figured for that price it was worth gambling; it came cleaned and pressed, to my surprise, and fit her perfectly," Klein recalls. Her daughter still really loved her shoes from the previous year, so she wore those again.

Klein's youngest daughter liked that prom dress so much that she says that if she ever wants to marry, that ivory dress might do the trick.

Total cost for prom and potential wedding dress: $7

GIF from "Footloose."

When it came time for her son to attend prom, Klein decided to purchase a tux, dress shirt, tie, and vest on clearance instead of rent them because she figured it was a better investment. He ended up wearing that getup to four proms, and Klein has since loaned it to other kids in need of a tux for prom.

Total cost: $132 plus the joy of an investment paying off for other families.

Lastly, they committed to eliminating corsages and flowers to cut down on both on costs and waste.

In addition to ideas like borrowing, swapping, and thrifting, a number of organizations in communities across the country give away donated prom dresses to those who cannot afford them. Check out the Princess Project or Google "Cinderella project" and your location to find one of these locations in your area.

2. Hair and makeup

Klein's oldest wore her hair down and wore minimal makeup that she did herself for each of her proms.

Cost: $0

GIF from "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion."

Klein says her younger daughter did her own make-up and hair but that the hair did not work out so great.

Klein, a writer, happened to be up on a reporting fellowship in an extremely remote area of arctic Alaska around prom time. She gave her husband and daughter instructions for a simple updo, and they managed to get her out the door looking good, but it fell out shortly after. Klein says she was pretty unhappy about it.

"She's not one to make a fuss about things, but it was definitely a disappointment to her," she says. "She hadn't asked to have her hair done professionally, but it was one of those times when a mom wishes she'd been home for her daughter."

After the hair fiasco of the previous year, her daughter asked if she could have her hair put up professionally the following year. Klein obliged.

Total cost: $0 and $65

3. Transportation, food, and post-prom

Klein's daughters sometimes had rides from significant others who could drive or they shared the cost of a party bus with friends. They swung through In-N-Out Burger for dinner.

In Klein's community, a lot of parents rent hotel rooms for their teens for the night, but her family was not comfortable with that for a lot of reasons, so they skipped out.

Total cost: $0-$50

Outside of the actual prom ticket, the Kleins had years where they spent nothing on prom. ‌‌

GIF from "100 Years of Prom in 2 Minutes"/Teen Vogue.

Their most expensive year cost around $280, which is significantly below the American average for the night. The cost of the prom ticket at their school was $70.

In fact, most schools and communities are doing their part to help make sure the night is accessible to everyone.

School administrators are directing families to resources like community dress give-aways and often assist lower-income families with obtaining prom tickets, too. (This school partnered with a non-profit; kids wrote essays in exchange for everything they need for prom.)

The fact is, prom can be affordable. One fun night doesn't have to (and shouldn't) break the bank. As the Kleins have discovered, a creative spirit, knowing where to look for deals, and a commitment to the fun of it all makes all the difference.

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Lots of Americans can’t afford diapers, but the White House has a fascinating solution.

How distributors, manufacturers, and the White House are working together for good.

There’s a big diaper problem in America that no one’s really talking about.

Image via Jet/YouTube.

Nearly 1 out of every 3 families in the United States report they often can’t afford to buy diapers when they need them, the White House states. Plus, low-income households end up spending nearly twice as much on diapers as middle-class folks because they don’t have access to bulk stores that charge less overall for diapers.

This means that every day, millions of American families come face to face with a question that no one should have to ask: "Should I buy diapers for my child or food for my family?"

This reality has led to what politicians are calling the "diaper gap" — a widening gap between folks who can afford the diapers their babies need and folks who can’t.

Unlike other essentials like food and health care, the government doesn’t offer federal assistance to low-income households for diaper purchases. Because of this, low-income families end up spending an average $936 per child per year on diapers alone, which means moms end up keeping their babies in dirty diapers longer to save money, too. Research published in Pediatrics shows doing this can lead to diaper rash, infections, and even permanent scarring.

Good news, though: Our good old government has a plan.

Image via Jet/YouTube.

This is where things get kind of unusual: Enter Jet.com.

The White House started the conversation with Jet.com, a discount wholesale website, in the most public way they could — via Twitter. It was important for the White House to come clean about this longstanding problem and to make it known publicly they needed assistance from the greater community to find a solution.

Then Jet.com proposed some solutions, but they realized they had to start with bringing in a manufacturing partner to help make more affordable diapers a sustainable reality. Enter Cuties diapers.

Cuties discovered that the key to making diapers cheaper wasn’t even about cutting corners in diaper quality, but rather creating more efficient packaging.


Image via Jet/YouTube.

So they looked into cutting down on packaging and even found ways to fit more diapers into each package. Eventually they came up with some great ideas, and Jet took it from there.

Together with the White House, Jet.com set up a system that allowed any nonprofit to apply to procure drastically discounted diapers.

Image via Jet/YouTube.

They launched the program on March 10, 2016, with the goal of spreading the initiative nationwide through the tributaries of smaller, charitable organizations.

"We’re really just trying to broaden the network of organizations who think about delivering diapers to the families they already serve," Dana Hork, director of brand experience at Jet.com, said in a documentary interview.

Here’s how much cheaper Jet was able to make their diapers (with Cuties’ help, of course):

Image via Jet/YouTube.

For an enrolled nonprofit, that price comes down again to just 13 cents per diaper. That means people will end up paying approximately one-fourth of what they used to!

This program has the potential to shrink the diaper gap to nothing, which is a big deal.

According to the National Diaper Bank Network, the program should help distribute at least 10 to 15 million diapers to families who need them this year. While this may not be a permanent solution to the problem, it’s a heck of a good start.

It’s easy to get down on the government for not doing their job (especially these days).

Image via Jet/YouTube.

But this all happened because the White House asked the community for help, which is pretty cool. When you see collaborative initiatives like this, you realize there are some wonderful things being accomplished in our government — you just have to look for them.

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