Working Mom Visiting Parents’ House Has Moment of ‘Millennial Realization’

A working mom had a moment of “millennial realization” while visiting her parents and the house she grew up in.

Nicole lives with her husband and young son in Jersey City. She works in digital marketing while her partner is an attorney. The couple both have what most would consider to be “good,” well-paying jobs.

Like many in her position, Nicole dreams of one day moving into a family home. But right now it doesn’t seem possible. “We’d love to leave our apartment and get some space, but it just feels so out of reach,” Nicole told Newsweek.

Housing affordability has worsened nationwide due to a combination of increased prices, historically high mortgage rates, and less consumer confidence in the long-term economy.

For Nicole, the reality of the situation and shift in market forces truly hit home during a trip to see her parents in the home she spent her youth.

“I was visiting with my family and in the backyard,” she said. “It hit me that my husband and I have two ‘good’ full-time jobs, but we’ll never be able to afford the type of house I grew up in this market.”

Nicole took to TikTok, posting under the handle @nikkiv428 to share the moment of “millennial realization” she had as she stood admiring her parents’ home.

“It just clicked how drastically things have changed in one generation if you didn’t get in the housing market before or early COVID. Now it’s impossible; salaries haven’t budged, but the houses have skyrocketed in value,” Nicole said. “My parents built that house on one income; my mom was a stay-at-home mom for most of our childhood.”

Posting her thoughts to social media, Nicole quickly discovered that she wasn’t alone in feeling cut adrift when it came to affording a family home. At the time of writing, her video has been watched over 1.8 million times.

One user wrote: “My parents bought their house in their mid 20s in 1985 for 289k. The house was built a year prior and the previous owner only lived there for a little over a year. My parents bought it for 289k … sold it in 2020 for 1.1 million. Yet somehow they do not understand that I will never have that life or the feeling of making a profit 4x what I paid for my house.”

Another said: “My mom making less than I do now bought our 4 bedroom house in 94 for 150k, it’s now worth 1.5 million and I can’t even find a 1 br [bedroom] condo in that area for less than 400k. How are we supposed to afford to exist at this point?”

Nicole has been surprised at how much her video has blown up, but not necessarily surprised at the stories shared like the ones above.

“If you read the comments, it’s wild how many people feel so similarly,” she said. “Everyone is commenting how they and their partner make three times their parents and could never afford the parents’ house now. Or their parents were a postal worker and a teacher, bought a house and raised a family, and now that same house is worth over a million dollars. Those two careers would never be able to afford that house now.”

Nicole came away feeling like she is not alone in feeling discouraged at the situation. “The only hope is getting some kind of help,” she said. “I know a lot of people in the comments say ‘move somewhere less expensive,’ but I think it’s a problem throughout the country, just on different scales.”

Ultimately, Nicole said she fears that, even if they were to “drastically change” everything in their lifestyle, it wouldn’t be enough. “For us, making a significant move isn’t realistic,” she said. “So it’s either being given some kind of significant help, which isn’t our reality, or something drastic changes with the housing market.”