Since 1935, the home ownership rate has increased. Does that prove that for several generation families are financially better off than their parents?

[Kelley1]

Historical Homeownership Rate in the United States

[NathanDavis]

no... that's just a misinterpretation of also, very misleading simplistic data

first of all... previous generations actually OWNED their houses, back in the 30's you could only get a house if you paid most of it ahead, not otherwise... after the big big war, policies changed and the US started to tell people that they could "buy"a house for the next 30 or 40 years of their life and they decided to call that "owning a house"

also, they started to build smaller and cheaper, therefore more "affordable" so is not that people are better off financially today, it just means that people have it easier to acquire debt nowadays

only as much as 40% of the people who are called home owners, actually own a paid in full house... the other 60% are people who are still in debt and they don't really own that house

and out of that 40% of true home owners, the vast majority are boomers and even older people... and definitely not the "generations of today" (Gen X and Millennials are not better off today lmao)

[aaron13547]

I see an increase from 1935 till 1965. Then I see a stabilization plateau. Compare that to a chart of population growth and if looked terrible... put a chart of technology growth and we are done for...

We have so much more abundance then they did in 1930. today our cell phones have more computing power then all of Nasa had when we landed on the moon in 1961. When you compare that chart to a chart of access to technology. It should look like a rocket going to the moon not a plateau...

[aaron13547]

Moon landing was 1969 😵 my bad

[Kelley1]

You make a very good point. In 1930 half the people lived on farms. Now maybe 5%. There are no elevator opperators and no telephone opperators. Those extra people should have gone into production. However, cars have not improved much. In fact they are worse. In the 1950s and a bit beyond, cars had excelllent visibility. Now with head rests and extremely wide posts, visibility has been reduced 50%.

[aaron13547]

One more thing I notice is the increase in 1930 -1965... that was right after the great depression. People went through a time of great suffering. Everyone as a whole wanted to be better! Ww2 was in the 1940s that gave our economy another huge boost. It was an idea to get behind "beat the bad guys"! Same with the moon, beat the bad guys (russia, cold war)... I think the problem is we dont have a real idea to get behind. We need something real to work toward as a planet. I want to see us building houses on the moon. Not fighting over who gets to be "here" or "there". We dont need another war as an idea to get behind. I think we need spiritual sovereignty as a whole.

[aaron13547]

Thanks for the mho!

[Kelly6]

@Kelley1 it increased because the parents kept saving account cash for their kids to use as down payment.

[WindAtMyBack]

Nope. Look worldwide. The highest home ownership rates are NOT the richest countries. Some of the highest home ownership rates are in second or third world countries.

Some of the richest countries in the world have low home ownership rates. This is speculation but I think it's because in many first world countries the kids leave home and buy their own house. In other countries, homes get passed from generation to generation, often with multiple generations living in the same house.

As I recall, countries like the US and Canada have an ownership rate around 60+%. I think some of the highest rates are well over 90%. Poland and/or Romania comes to mind as some of the highest.

People today are WAY better off than their parents or grandparents. But home ownership is not a reliable measure. The average person in the US has almost twice the square foot per person as they did when I was young. Instead of the percent of people who own a home, ask how many square feet and what amenities they have.

[abc3643]

No. Furthermore, the graphic is misleading...
How is the "Homeownership Rate" defined?

For the moment, let's assume it's the fraction of the population that owns homes (that is, either has a mortgage or outright owns the home). Minors make up about 21% of the US population, so that means 79% of the population are adults. Given the proposed definition, this implies that almost every adult in the US owns a home. That's obviously not the case, so the assumption is wrong...

So, what then does "Homeowership Rate" as a percentage mean?


Meanwhile, in your question, what does "several generation families" mean in your question?
I don't know too many people who simply popped into existence and think all of us came from millions of generations.

=============
You are a smart young lady who is mathematically inclined and I appreciate that. But, just a slight word of advice:

When you present graphs like this when asking a question or proposing a thought (hypothesis, theory, assertion... whatever), do these two things:
1. Provide a citation to the graphic and, if you got it off the web, include the URL as well.
2. Explain any variables on the graph and what the variable means.

Similarly, if you have any terms (like "several generation families") which are not well-defined, then define them.

Good luck!

Now, I want to be clear that I am not saying your graphic is bullshit, but I have no idea where it comes from, so I can't do my due diligence to even understand it let alone assess if it is bullshit.

==========

[Hagar88]

What is see is a massive rise in post war WW2. A rise to about 2003 and a massive drop. This is the first generation of people to do worse than their parents.

Where I grew up it was a different story between 1945 to maybe 1990s as the country was recovering from WW2.

In America in the 60s,70s 80s and 90s on a single wage a man could leave school with a high school diploma, get a basic factory job, buy a house with two cars in the drive, marry, have kids and enjoy a holiday every year, have healthcare and send his kids to college.

[lightbulb27]

100% worse...

by way of the printing press, the govt has stolen the land and distributed it more to those that know how to play the game better. it's theft, always was, always will be.

its one thing if people can buy land but even that is pricy. homes are expensive due to the regulations.

[Tarifa]

I can only speak about Spain, the country I'm living in at the moment. That was true up until our generation, but not anymore for the newer generation. Younger people between the ages of 20 to 30 have a hard time renting a decent place, let alone buy one. Property prices have risen significantly over the last decade, pushing those properties out of reach for people with an average to good income.

[Zack-Bann]

No we just built more homes
Larger cities, towns and so on


Plus the human population more than doubled over that period of time


That heavily impacts this statistic


Because let’s face it: most parents an grandparents had an easier time buying a home compared to young adults today

[RavVid]

1935 was close to the Great Depression so there was good reason for that being a low point and it is misleading without the graph. The graph itself is misleading without a zero y intercept.

But yes home ownership is significantly higher and are presumably better off than their forebears before WW2. Maybe not their parents as it has been kinda flat since 1975. Definite better off than great grand parents.

[AviatorTom]

Not really. It's and indication that people moved from the cities, where they rent, to the suburbs, where they buy homes. That really started after World War 2, where returning GIs settled down in suburban communities, many of them planned developments.

[msc545]

The track you posted does not show that at all. You infer some truth in it, it doesn't take into account inflation, which affects the value of the dollar. It also does not take into account the actual appearance of the chart, which shows that in 1961 things began to level out. Rose for a break period of time, and then leveled out again. And even declined to some degree.

[AngryCarl3]

Looks like it peaked right around 2000. Young folks nowadays wouldn't even remember that.

[Snakeyes7]

You realize 1935 was in the middle of the Great Depression right? That's like saying there was massive job growth after those retarded covid pandemic measures that kept many people from having jobs got lifted.

[LiamS95]

Yes especially after they got thier inhritance

[andreasderjuengere]

It only means that banks successfully fooled more and more people into consumerism slavery.

[AgentG111]

Nope it means they're fucking like rabbits and need their own place to fuck in and create more humans !

[beefcakebradybatson]

Yes, but Generation Z is so far MUCH LESS AFFLUENT than their elders at the same age.

[exitseven]

yes, and the trend continues.

[Sevenpointfive]

yes. i would agree.

[888theGreat]

no, just more ways to finance.

[AngryCarl3]

haha yeah, 50-year mortgage anyone?