Reflecting contemporary economic realities, many of what have traditionally been considered life’s mainstays have become harder for Generation Z in their 20s to attain than they were for Boomers at that age.
Wages are around 3.8 times higher today than they were in 1985, when most Boomers were around 25 years old, according to a recent study conducted by crypto casino BC Game. The study analyzed multiple publicly available sources to compare changing financial circumstances since 1985. The cost of housing, college, cars, childcare, and weddings, however, outpaced earning power over that same time period.
The term “Baby Boomers” refers to the demographic of people born between 1946 and 1964; “Zoomers,” an informal term for members of Generation Z, refers to people born between 1997 and 2012.
The median price of a house rose from $82,800 in 1985 to $403,200 — nearly five times higher — in 2025/2026, according to BC Game.
The annual cost of tuition and fees for college, meanwhile, increased by nearly seven times, climbing from $5,556 in 1985 to $39,307 in 2025/2026, according to the study.
The cost of a typical used car climbed from $2,656 in 1985 to $26,918 in 2025/2026, and the cost of a wedding rose from roughly $7,800 to $36,000 over that same time period. That’s an increase of roughly ten and five times, respectively.
Echoing Ben Franklin’s saying, “Time is money,” it took Boomers around 10,350 hours of labor to buy a house in their 20s while Zoomers appear to take around 13,006 hours — a 2,656-labor-hour gap — according to BC Game’s estimates. Likewise, the estimated gap of Zoomers’ efforts lagging behind those of Boomers spent on attaining comparable mainstays is around 573 hours for college, 536 hours for a used car, 421 hours for childcare, and 186 hours for a wedding. In other words, Zoomers are expending hundreds of labor hours more than Boomers to maintain a parity in quality of life.
Notably, the annual cost of childcare in 1985 was $1,020. It has increased by 17 times since then, reaching around $17,000 in 2025/2026, according to the study.
“Gen Z and millennial women are regularly delaying parenthood, having fewer children, or not becoming parents at all. And the main reason is that they can’t afford them,” BC Game CEO Ali Muhanned said in a statement obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Housing, childcare, and groceries have all gotten so expensive that starting a family now looks like a financial risk,” Muhanned’s statement continues. “Last year, the share of first-time home buyers dropped to a record low of 21%, which shows just how many young Americans are putting the basics of adult life on hold.”
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