Neither of [my parents] graduated from college with a four-year degree, but they were able to buy homes, multiple vehicles [and] support my brother and I through childhood and college. ... A single one of those metrics would seem hugely —
— successful to me, but I have been able to achieve none of them.
My parents bought a house in 2001 in Huntersville, [N.C.], for around $300,000. ... They bought it when they were 30 and easily supported three kids. ... That same house today costs $750,000. ... In four years, I wouldn’t have even close —
— enough for the minimum recommended down payment.
My parents raised seven children off of what I make now. I cannot see how I would ever be able to have a child or foster one in my situation. I’m stuck and feel as though I am missing out on life as a result.
It took five years of living at home while teaching to be able to afford rent, and now I am really just scraping by. ... My parents were married, had bought a house and had already had me by the time they were my age. [None] of those three —
— things are financially possible for me at the moment.
I often think about my grandparents' generation and how it was possible to send three kids to college on one income. ... That seems like a luxury afforded to very, VERY few people these days. ... There's a joke that my generation feels like —
— nothing good will ever happen again. A lot of us really do feel that way.