Everyone keeps telling us the economy’s doing well. Headlines point to growth, politicians point to numbers, and somewhere in all of that, students and young adults are left wondering why it doesn’t feel that way in real life because from where I’m standing, it doesn’t.
I feel it every time I open my banking app and try to make sense of what’s left after rent, groceries, gas and everything else that seems to cost more by the week. I feel it in the way I second-guess small purchases that used to not matter, like grabbing coffee before class or picking up dinner after a long day. Those decisions aren’t casual anymore. They come with a mental checklist. Do I need this? Can it wait? What bill’s coming up next?
What’s frustrating is that this isn’t about being careless with money. A lot of us are doing exactly what we were told to do. We’re in school, we’re working, we’re gaining experience, we’re planning ahead, and still, it feels like we’re constantly trying to catch up to an economy that keeps moving just out of reach. I can count on one hand the number of people I know in their early 20s that actually own a home. Most of us have settled on renting because the thought of buying a home is not something I can even conceptualize given the circumstances.
I hear the same thing from people around me all the time. Conversations about money aren’t occasional, they’re constant. We split costs down to the cent, double-check totals at the grocery store and think through plans before we commit to them. There’s this shared understanding that everyone’s trying to make it work, but nobody really feels comfortable, and it isn’t normal.
It really starts to feel bigger than just personal budgeting when everything from housing to basic necessities continues to get more expensive. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth to wonder who this economy is actually working for. Wages haven’t kept pace in the way people need them to, and for students about to graduate, that gap feels especially real. Entry level jobs are supposed to be the starting point, but for many of my peers just entering the workforce, they don’t always offer the kind of stability that past generations were able to count on.
I think a lot of us grew up believing that if we worked hard enough, things would eventually fall into place, and I still believe that effort matters, but it’s getting harder to ignore that the system we’re stepping into isn’t set up the same way it used to be, and I’m sick of people pretending that it hasn’t changed. People who’ve already graduated are working full time and still talking about rent they can barely afford and how saving money feels out of reach. In my eyes, that’s not just a rough start, that’s a pattern.
There’s also the unspoken pressure to act like everything’s fine. Social media doesn’t reflect the full picture, and it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one struggling when everyone else seems to be keeping up, but most of the time, behind those posts are the same trade offs, the same budgeting, the same stress that doesn’t always get talked about, and it’s literally killing us.
I don’t think students and young adults are asking for anything unrealistic. We’re not expecting instant success, an easy path or for any handouts. We just want a system where doing the right things actually leads to some level of stability. Where working, studying and building a future means more than just getting by in a world that already feels stacked against us.
As of right now, it feels like we’re doing everything we can to stay afloat in an economy that’s asking more of us than it’s giving back, and until that starts to shift, the question isn’t just whether we can afford anything; it’s whether the version of adulthood we were promised is still even attainable at all.
Abby Ayes can be contacted [email protected].
