The Australian dream is not what it used to be

The concept of living the Australian dream has changed a lot over the past 10 years. For many people, the Australian dream is about buying a house and being able to take pride in your own home.

While this was an achievable goal for most baby boomers, that dream is quickly slipping away for many of today’s young Australians.

People in their 20s, 30s and even 40s are struggling to afford to put down a deposit on a property in any of the major cities.

Those who do buy are being forced out of the city and into the suburbs about an hour away.

While baby boomers where able to purchase a house for about four times the amount of their annual salary, today’s prospective home owners are facing prices 12 times their annual wage. A fee that is simply unattainable for many.

While there seems to be nothing stopping this trend anytime soon, we have to ask: what does this mean for Australia’s future?

If our children can’t afford to buy a home, is the financial pressure going to fall on baby boomer parents instead?

Many parents are having to sign onto home loans as guarantors because their children cannot afford a deposit on their own.

This puts extra pressure on parents and creates a significant financial risk for all involved.

Some parents are uncomfortable with the idea of signing onto a home loan with their children, but feel like they have to if their kids are to have a chance at owning their own home in the future.

Some have suggested the skyrocketing price of housing is something that needs to be addressed at a government level. Wages are simply not increasing at the same rate as housing and it is making it near-impossible for people to keep up with the cost of living.

It’s not just the younger generations that are affected by the changing Australian landscape either.

Older Australians living on the pension or trying to plan for retirement are faced with a very different future than the one they envisioned 20 years ago.

Studies have proven that millions of seniors do not have enough money to meet today’s cost of living, with many professional reports urging the government to take action and address the issue.

With no end in sight to the rising costs of housing and day-to-day living, we have to wonder: what happened to the Australian dream?

Do you think the idea of the Australian dream is still achievable? Do your children struggle to afford a home? Do you think the cost of living is too high?