Lifestyle costs have increased, as housing, food, and other living expenses have risen sharply in recent years. Younger generations may have a higher baseline cost for a basic lifestyle than earlier generations, despite a positive economic outlook for 2026.
“It is unfortunately the case that the younger generation is facing relatively higher costs as they step into adulthood,” Jon Sanders, director of the Center for Food Power and Life at the John Locke Foundation, told the Carolina Journal. “Tuition costs have for decades been outstripping inflation. So have housing costs. Yet, tuition and housing are two areas where the government has been significantly involved in trying to make them more affordable (a third is healthcare, which has also been marked by steep cost increases). Those unfortunate outcomes should be no surprise — they are the inevitable consequences of supplanting free markets with government control. The hallmarks of socialized institutions are higher costs, inefficiencies, and worse outcomes.”
In April 2025, the median price for a home in the US was $14,000, down slightly from $426,900 in June 2024, which was the highest price ever recorded by the National Association of Realtors, according to a report by Bankrate. Since the pandemic, the median price of homes has been sharply increasing.
“Now facing increasing school loan debts or eschewing higher education altogether, young adults find it harder to afford inflated housing prices,” continued Sanders. “So more are having to spend their housing dollars on paying (also increasingly expensive) rent, meaning they are not building equity.”
The size of the average home is also increasing, according to a US Census report. Homes built in the 1960s or earlier had a median size of 1,500 sq ft, whereas single-family homes built between 2000 and 2009 ranged from an average of 2,100 to 2,200 sq ft. Additionally, Americans now want larger homes than they did previously. According to a 2024 study by the National Association of Home Builders, 38% of homebuyers prefer a home between 2,000 and 2,999 sq ft in size. In contrast, only 8% of homebuyers want a home between 1,200 and 1,599 sq ft.
The expectations of what homebuyers are looking for have also changed over time. Homes built in the 2000s are more likely to have four bedrooms or more as compared to homes built in earlier decades, according to the US Census report. Between 2005 and 2009, 48% of homes built have at least 2.5 bathrooms or more and 44% of those built between 2000 and 2004, as compared to only 10% of homes built during the 1960s or earlier. Homes built during this time period are also more likely to have additional living rooms, dining rooms, dens, family/great rooms, recreation rooms, and laundry/utility rooms than homes built in earlier decades.
Not only has the cost of eating out increased, but Americans also appear to be eating out more frequently than previously. In the second quarter of 2025, Americans spent a record $1.2 trillion at an annual rate, up slightly from the first quarter, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, as reported by the National Restaurant Association. These spending levels are significantly higher than the pre-pandemic spending trends between 2010 and 2019. If pre-pandemic trends had continued, second-quarter spending would have averaged $1 trillion. Actual expenditures for the second quarter of 2025 are 24.5% higher than the projection based on pre-pandemic levels.
“In inflation-adjusted terms, real spending at eating and drinking places totaled $885.3 billion in Q2 2025 (expressed in chained 2017 dollars), also an all-time high and up from $876.4 billion in Q1,” according to the report. “If the pre-pandemic trajectory had persisted, real spending would have been $879.5 billion — just 0.7% below the actual figure.”
It’s not just the cost of eating out that’s increasing; it’s the cost of eating in as well. In 2024, average annual at-home food prices increased by 1.2% from 2023, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS). In addition, the overall food Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 23.6% from 2020 (mid-pandemic) to 2024.
According to data from US Foods, monthly spending at restaurants in 2024 was $191, up from $166 in 2023; some of this increase could be attributable to inflation in menu pricing. Women spent an average of 33% more per month on dining out than men, reversing the 2023 trend when men spent 19% more per month on average than women.
According to a 2024 report, the largest percentage, 36%, spend between $11 and $20 when dining out, 30% spend between $21 and $30 when dining out, and only 6% spend $51 or more.
Due to government interventions during the Covid-19 pandemic and under the Biden administration, the cost of groceries and dining out has unfortunately spiked, making it harder for young adults to save, according to Sanders, and forcing them to delay home buying or moving out of their parents’ homes.