Attainability of the American Dream for Millennial In California

Attainability of the American Dream for Millennial In California
Introduction
It is said that an idea is like a virus, it spreads from one individual to another and once it sticks there is no stopping it and such was the idea of the American Dream. This idea has given hope, powered great innovations, engineered remarkable technology and raised the United States to the superpower that it is right now. It is like an idea whose time has come and the change it intends to initiate is unstoppable. The idea began as a notion, a thought among many Americans that everybody deserved the right to seek happiness and freedom, to better his or her life by hard work and raw ambition. In 1931, the phrase came to life through the work of an American historian who coined the phrase “American Dream” (Martin, 2010).Like all great ideas though, the tides of time have worn it out and left only a trace of its original self, a cracked image of the original beauty and power which it held among the souls of true Americans. The idea has evolved over time till today in the twenty first century it can be defined by a single word; money (Rainer & Rainer, 2011).
Today the ideals are different; the young aspire not to pursue liberty and freedom like our forefathers but to acquire wealth and fame, which is the new American dream (Mathison & Ross, 2007). This new age of people are called the millennials. Millennial is an abbreviation used by demographers that is used to refer to a group of the population in the United that was born in the 1980`s and matured somewhere around the year 2000 (Martin, 2010). These children were referred to in many media outlets as generation Y and were born after the infamous generation X. This generation is the offspring’s of post-world war 2 baby boom generation. According to statistics by the United States census bureau, forty percent of this population is African American, racially mixed, latino or Asian. Basing on research in 1978 – 2000, there are approximately 76 million millennial living in the United States right now.
This generation is characterized by the following traits.
• They have higher liberal attitudes especially when it comes to socio-cultural issues and they are likely to display a general support for classical liberal and economic policies as compared to the preceding generations. Members of this generation are likely to advocate for legalization of drugs and same sex marriages.
• It has also been noted that they are less likely to devout their lives to the religion as compared to the preceding generation.
• They are more educated and embrace use of technology more than any other generation. They have access to technological devices such as computer, mobile phone and internet.
• Their presence in social media is notable.
Body

California is home to one of the largest millennial population in the United States. These millenias who are now between the ages of 25 and 34 are turning out to be the exact opposite of market predictions. These individuals who are currently at the peak of their lives and are expected to be investing in homes as first time buyers are not investing in homes (Martin, 2010). Home ownership according to Commerce department fell from 41 % in the year 2008 to 36% in 2014. Interviews with some of the millenials produced results showing that most of them do not own homes and that they dint plan to own homes ever in the near or far future. These statistics are worrying especially when compared to the 65% of Americans who own homes.

These millennial have adopted a spend thrift nature and do not care about future investments (Winograd & Hais, 2008). Research shows that most millennial flock to cities such as California and Sanfransisco immediately after leaving college to go and live expensive and luxurious lives. These fresh out of college students prefer to spend their income on ridiculously high rent, trendy clothing’s which might cost as much as $5000 and expensive foods in exotic restaurants.
Research by the Federal Reserve in 2013 showed that families that had millennial as the head were earning $35,509 , this value is 6% lower than their counterparts back in the year 1989. These results are signs of a deteriorating average income in American households among the American population (Martin, 2010). This subsequently means that some of the things that Americans could afford back in 1989 are no longer affordable in 2013 due to a lower income. This scenario is further made worse by the fact that the world has experienced a recession and inflation has catapulted the prices of some of the basic commodities in the States.For millennials living in California, this can only spell doom if they ever wish to attain the American dream since they simply cannot afford it (Rainer & Rainer, 2011).
These millenials are also held back by a back log of student loans and loans from financial institutions are running bankrupt. Many of them take loans from banks just to finance their lavish lifestyle which means that they are not investing any of this cash. This bankrupt nature ultimately locks them from ever attaining the American Dream for many decades to come.
Some critics however argue that the fall in the rate with which millennials are buying houses is absolutely natural given the financial time in the United States. The argument is that even if they wanted to buy these homes, they probably wouldn’t be able to buy them given the fact that apart from being overpriced, the cost of these houses fluctuates so indefinitely and also despite the fluctuations, the prices have been in a steady rise. This therefore puts the millenias in a difficult position since they cannot afford even the down payment due to their low income. They also argue that the young millenials have wizened up to the fact that having many mortgages that are unpaid while moving from one temporary employment to the other is not a good idea. This fact is also solidified by the fact that millennial are experiencing long bouts of unemployment with the deteriorating economic times making buying homes through mortgages a huge risk.
The question of mobility could also have something to do with the fall in housing purchases as more and more millenials prefer to move from one city to another. As much as this could be labeled the lack of commitment to job or in a broader sense the need for job mobility, the fact is that if one is buying a home in the current employment market, he or she should consider the fact that on moving he will lose 25 – 35 % of equity given that he invested 20% equity. In this respect, we cannot compare the X generation which flourished during the times of co-operate America where employers used to provide their employees with housing. In those times, most American families had homes simply because their employers provided the houses, in the twenty first century however; most employers no longer offer homes hence millenials have to finance themselves in finding their own homes. In the case where millenials have the opportunity of being housed by employers , there is the fact that millennial are switching employees now more than ever, the fear of becoming homeless on switching employers could also contribute to this state in California.

Conclusion
The millenials of California are standing at deadly cross roads. Their extreme extravagance nature has led to poor savings and investment culture. The current dire economic times has raised the cost of living so high that most of them cannot afford to own homes. The fact that their income levels have also dropped significantly compares to their counterparts during the 1980s has also increased their woes. These factors and many others have ultimately flushed the idea of the American dream down the drain. This American dream that has been flushed is however the misconstrued understanding of the American dream which defines happiness and prosperity as being solely determined by finances and wealth. The millenials have hope of attaining the original idea of the American dream which stands for principles such as liberty, justice, freedom and equality among all people. This is because this understanding of the dream is based on non-financial materials and depends more on the ideologies that are held by a nation.

Works Cited
Martin, P. (2010). Tipping The Culture: How Engaging Millenials will Change Things. Ohio: Orks Press.
Mathison, S., & Ross, E. w. (2007). Schools. San Andreas: Voork.
Rainer, T. S., & Rainer, J. W. (2011). The Millenials : Connecting Americas Largest Generation. Ohio: Orks Press.
Sujansky, J., & Ferri-Reed, J. (2009). Keeping The Millenials: Why Companies are losing Billions. Ohio: Bopted Press.
Winograd, M., & Hais, M. D. (2008). Millenial Take Makeover: My space,Youtube and The future of Techology. Michigan: Koyt Press.