ABSTRACT
This chapter applies cohort analysis to a diverse set of publicly available data to examine how Millennials’ housing outcomes (household formation, homeownership, and housing affordability) compare to their parents (the Baby Boomers) at similar ages. This chapter finds that Millennials grew up during an ongoing housing shortfall, when housing construction had not kept pace with population growth for decades. Insufficient new construction was compounded by reduced turnover of existing housing units, and the overall amount of housing available on the market shrank relative to the total housing stock and relative to sharply increasing demand as more and more Millennials sought housing. Millennials faced steeper competition for housing from older people, and were in a weaker economic position relative to older groups, compared to Boomers when they were young. Millennials formed households and bought homes at much lower rates than Boomers did at the same ages in response to these conditions. Millennial renters also dealt with worse affordability problems than Boomers. Millennials without college degrees bore the brunt of the housing shortfall, which widened the existing disparities between young people with and without college educations. New housing construction is needed to help level the playing field for Millennials in the housing market.
