House or Wedding? The $36,000 Financial Choice Forcing Gen Z To Rewrite the American Dream

First comes love. Then comes a $36,000 wedding, a $23,400 down payment, and childcare that can consume double-digit shares of household income.It’s just a snapshot of the punishing costs young families face today. And as milestones that once built on one another compete for the same pool of money, the traditional sequence of adulthood is being upended in the process.In 1975, 45% of Americans ages 25 to 34 had moved out of their parents’ home, entered the workforce, gotten married, and had children, according to Census Bureau data. By 2024, fewer than a quarter had reached all four milestones.Among the forces reshaping that sequence, housing may be exerting the most pressure on what comes next.“Housing costs are a primary driver in delaying adulthood milestones, as young Americans are forced to live with their families or roommates for longer than ever before,” says Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com®.Housing costs are reshuffling the order of adulthoodIt’s hard to overstate the role that rising housing costs have played in shaping the futures of millennials and Gen Zers.A record 25.2 million adults lived with their parents in 2025—nearly 1 in 3 adults under 35, according ...