The national and global economies have changed drastically over recent decades, which leaves many people reconsidering exactly what it means to be part of the fabled American middle class. Even 15 years ago, “middle class” meant you likely had a college education, worked full time, and could own a home while keeping aside a little extra money each month to live a comfortable existence.
Today, with sky-high college tuition, mounting student debt, and increasing home prices, our impression of the middle class is changing, and young people’s prospects for reaching such benchmarks seem bleak.
Still, the majority of Generation Z are hopeful that in the end, their financial circumstances will be better than those of their parents — and they still might. Equipped with unprecedented technology, a more expansive and flexible outlook, and a whole new mindset toward the workplace, 20-somethings are redefining middle-class success in several ways.
Staying at Home
Traditionally, college has been a time for kids to move out on their own, no longer living under the protective wing of their parents. Most students got the opportunity to learn independence, make mistakes, and come out the better for it.
Although the mistakes might have stayed the same, the living situations have changed drastically in response to changing educational structures and, especially, growing economic pressures.
A recent study found that nearly 23% of young adults are now choosing to live at home during college to save money. Paying for room and board in a dorm or rent on a campus apartment can be expensive, so staying at home for four more years has become a savvy way to conserve cash.
Upon graduating, these students (ideally) will either carry less loan debt or enjoy a padded savings account as a result of living at home for those few extra years. And even if they move out, they may not “go big.”
Environmentally conscious Gen Zers want to keep saving money, too. And what better way to do so than through minimalism? Fewer obligations and a smaller carbon footprint can go a long way towards saving money and saving the planet. One way to achieve both those goals is to “live small.” For example, a tiny home costs between $30,000 and $60,000. This is a significant savings over renting or buying a traditional home, townhome, or condo. Furthermore, tiny homes boast less energy usage, fewer furnishings, and reduced maintenance over time.
Studying In-State… or Not at All
Today, many students graduate with a diploma, a bright career outlook … and mountains of crippling student loan debt. College tuition has become extremely costly, no matter which school a student attends.
But as costs have ballooned, today’s motivated Gen Z students are identifying ways to mitigate the overall cost of tuition.
Many are taking advantage of in-state tuition rates, which in some cases can drop to almost half the level of out-of-state tuition, depending on the schools in question. And although the requirements for residency vary for each college or university, many students can qualify for reduced tuition rates, even if applying to an out-of-state school.
In other cases, tech-savvy young people are skipping college altogether and learning what they need to know online or in the workplace. Alternatives like coding boot camps, trade schools, apprenticeships, and “hackschooling” are increasingly popular.
Finding Affordable Cities
Upon entering the working world, many college grads in the past have found themselves eager to take the first job opportunity they were presented with. Then they could work their way up the ladder and save a nest egg as they went.
But now, weighing heavily against any financial joys of their newfound independence, recent graduates must be ever-mindful of the student loan burden they carry, as well as rising costs of living across the board.
Equipped with that knowledge — and with technology that makes cross-country comparison shopping easy — savvy students and graduates are now measuring the relative costs of living in different cities before making their career moves.
Any starting salary figure might sound great at first, but in major cities like Los Angeles and New York, the cost of living reaches far beyond the entry-level pay grade. Rent for an apartment can be astronomically high, making it hard to pay rent every month, let alone cover utilities, transportation, food, and other living expenses.
Consequently, many savvy grads are choosing to relocate for work to areas with a lower cost of living. University towns are often less expensive, requiring much less for rent and transportation than the biggest cities, but still offering career opportunities and cultural attractions.
Working Remotely
Another career choice that today’s college students and grads utilize is remote work, an option that is growing exponentially in popularity across American workplaces, as it’s proven to save money and headaches for both employer and employee. (States like West Virginia are even offering cash incentives to move there.)
Companies require less office and workspace, less security, and less administrative oversight of workers, and see bottom-line benefits from greater employee satisfaction and productivity.
For workers, working from home (or any location they choose) offers the chance to save on daily expenses — such as dressing up for work, commuting, parking, and eating out for lunch every day — that can quickly add up.
Add to that the satisfaction of the inherent flexibility and autonomy that comes from controlling your own workday, and the result is an attractive choice for many über-connected millennials and Gen Zers.
Working remotely is easy with a solid internet connection and shrewd implementation of cloud storage. Taking advantage of the cloud allows users to keep important documents and files safe, while still having them accessible from any internet-supporting location in the world.
Plus, additional authorized users can be granted access to cloud files, making collaboration with other remote co-workers a breeze.
Taking Side Gigs
To make ends meet — and, with any luck, pay off student debt sooner — many millennials and members of Generation Z are turning to side gigs to pick up extra cash. This can take many forms, such as a part-time weekend job or intermittent freelance work.
Many of these can be performed at home, during off-peak hours or spare time, and most can be scheduled, managed, invoiced, and paid via a smartphone, making the option especially attractive to younger digital natives.
Accessing a supplemental income source (that doesn’t negatively impact the full-time job, of course) is a great way to help reduce debt, build up a savings account, or better manage daily living expenses. In many cases, students and graduates can even string together enough side gigs to make a decent living.
Website design and copywriting are lucrative freelance industries for a side hustle — but simply running errands, making small repairs, or walking the neighbor’s dog are also popular sources of cash for younger generations.
Being Flexible
As the landscape changes for what we consider the middle class, the idea of a “normal” workweek is also evolving. Long gone are the traditional 9-to-5 days of punching the clock and being home for a 6 o’clock dinnertime.
Many employers today are looking for employees willing and able to burn the midnight oil and show up on weekends, if necessary — and it seems they’re finding them. After watching their parents suffer from the Great Recession, 20-somethings are proving themselves willing to work hard to avoid a similar fate.
In a recent survey, 58% of Gen Z workers say they’d be willing to work nights and weekends if the pay was right. An additional 39% of them expect to be regularly connected to the workplace through their smartphone, regardless of time or place.
The generations currently rising into adulthood and the American workplace face some unique challenges, in the form of student loan debt, out-of-bounds home prices, and an uncertain economy and political climate.
But they’re also equipped with an uncommon set of attributes that can help them navigate their way into a new normal — and a brand-new definition of what is “middle class.”
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