New Legal & General Study on Millennials and Housing Looks at Effects of Covid-19 on Millennial Home Buying Plans Half of Millennials Said Covid Negatively Affected Their Plans; 61% of Those Already Saving Said Covid Cancelled or Delayed Their Home Owning Plans
New York, NY | August 19, 2021 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
- 68% of millennials said Covid had some impact on their thinking about where they could live
- 36% of millennial parents and those already saving for a home want to move to smaller cities/towns
- Among U.S. millennials living in suburban areas, 27% completely abandoned their home-owning plans due to Covid
Even as a second wave of the pandemic threatens to upend the fragile normalcy people were resuming, the Covid-19 pandemic was already having a profound effect on millennials’ attitudes and realities around housing. Today, the second part of a broad new study conducted by Legal & General Group, U.S. Millennials and Home Ownership – A Distant Dream for Most, digs into the effects the Covid-19 pandemic has had on this generation’s attempts to get onto the housing ladder and paints an ongoing picture of the housing difficulties millennials have had and will continue to have in coming months and years.
This second segment of the data-rich study, While Delta Portends Further Disruption, Covid Has Already Thwarted Millennials’ Home Buying Plans, takes a deep dive into the effects of the pandemic on specific demographics within the 25- to 40-year-old U.S. millennial population. And the consequences have been formidable: even as of April/May 2021, 12% of millennials across all age groups said that Covid-19 had caused them to abandon their plans of home-ownership completely.
Legal & General Group Chief Executive Nigel Wilson commented: “With the Delta variant now on the rise in the U.S., it’s key to understand how and whether the pandemic has put the brakes on millennial home buying. Here we see that housing affordability, already an issue for them in big cities and other desirable areas, became further unattainable to people in their mid to late 30s, many of whom opted to return to their hometowns, in some cases even their parents’ houses. This is a societal problem with significant repercussions: millennials form the largest working cohort, yet many can’t get onto the ladder of home-ownership.”
Study Co-Author and Legal & General Corporate Affairs Director John Godfrey notes: “Prices for homes in the U.S. have been rising sharply, while wages, particularly for younger workers, have stagnated. With the awareness that Covid has further stymied home buying plans of a significant portion of millennials, lenders and builders alike should be looking toward solutions that will help this demographic get onto the housing ladder.”
Legal & General’s study looks not only at housing affordability, but also at geographic and demographic choices based on age and life stage, and at various drivers shaping millennials’ attitudes and plans, including Covid-19 and its role in their ability—or inability—to purchase a home. Future segments will look in-depth at the wage stagnation and inflation equation; the intergenerational housing gap; home-ownership on U.S. Millennials’ bucket list; student debt and the cost of healthcare; and where Millennials stand on retirement and other savings vehicles.
Notes To Editors
The information contained in this press release is intended solely for journalists and should not be relied upon by private investors or any other persons to make financial decisions.
About the Study
Legal & General undertook proprietary research into the attitudes and changes, as well as geographic shifts, U.S. Millennials are experiencing in relation to home purchases and affordable housing. The U.S. Millennials and Home Ownership research was compiled using original survey data 875 U.S. based Millennials who don’t own a property, then segmented into three distinct age groups and other demographic markers. The survey work was carried out by Legal & General. Fieldwork was undertaken during March and April, 2021. All surveys were carried out online.
About Legal & General Group
Established in 1836, Legal & General is one of the UK’s leading financial services groups and a major global investor, with international businesses in the U.S., Europe, Middle East and Asia. With over $1.4 trillion in total assets under management, Legal & General is the UK’s largest investment manager for corporate pension schemes and a UK market leader in pension risk transfer, life insurance, workplace pensions and retirement income.
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