The YOLO Generation: ‘Zillennials’ Returning to the ‘Mom and Pop Hotel’
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Emily Stone is eyeing a cameo-beige Prada bag, complete with the brand’s iconic triangular logo in gold, and a jaw-dropping price tag of $2,300.
It’s been just over six months since the 25-year-old bought her latest ‘gift,’ a $2,000 Louis Vuitton bag, but she’s ready for another splurge.
“It’s nice to be in this position where if I see something I like I can buy it,” said the nurse-turned-content creator, who lives outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
While it may seem surprising that someone so young could afford designer handbags in today’s climate, Stone is part of a growing generation of ‘zillennials’ who return with their parents to be able to afford a better quality of life.
‘Zillennials’ refers to those who are about to become millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, and part of Generation Z, born between 1997.
Last year, these two generations combined accounted for 72 percent of the luxury goods market.
Fed up with paying sky-high rents and disillusioned by rising mortgage rates, these professionals have given up on independent living and are instead prioritizing designer items and luxury travel.
Emily Stone, 25, is part of a growing generation of young people who are choosing to live at home so they can afford a better quality of life.
Megan Zuckerman, left, returned home during the pandemic after paying $2,000 a month rent in Manhattan. She now spends her money on dresses and events while she saves. Nada Torbica, 22, right, spends money saved on travel
And with jobs that allow them to work from home, there’s nothing stopping them from moving out of major cities and back to their childhood rooms.
About 48 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds in the US now live with their parents, according to Census Bureau estimates, levels similar to those seen in the 1940s.
It works on around 25 million young people.
The trend has given many of them a more lenient approach to life, and experts say they’re fixing their finances on a YOLO (You Only Live Once) philosophy.
Meanwhile, their exposure to the 2008 financial crisis as children has helped them build ‘resilience’ to economic uncertainty.
For Stone, it was a no-brainer. She moved briefly for two years while studying at a nearby community college, but moved back in with her parents after getting tired of “wasting money” on rent.
Previously a nurse, she turned to social media after starring on the reality show The Real Love Boat.
Stone earns a six-figure salary that allows her to buy designer handbags, most recently a $2,000 Luis Vuitton bag.
Stone now has her eyes on a $2,300 ‘Saffiano’ cameo-beige mini bag from Prada
She now works part-time as an injection nurse, using the rest of her time to focus on content creation. She earns a six figure salary.
Her mother Laura, 51, a housewife, and her father Brian, 52, a train driver, insist they love having her there.
“There is this stigma of living at home, but I love my family, I get to live with my best friends and I have a lot more money,” he told Dailymail.com.
‘I can save for big purchases like a car and a house, but I can also buy designer handbags and sunglasses.
“And I can get my nails done every two weeks instead of every four.”
Last year, a report by management consultancy Bain & Co. found the US luxury goods industry “recession-proof” because of its popularity among young consumers who live with their parents.
The industry is expected to grow an additional 21 percent this year, even as the rising cost of living puts pressure on family budgets.
Claudia D’Arpizio, a senior partner at Bain and Co., said young people are partly trying to make up for all the experiences they’ve missed out on during the pandemic.
He added that many 20-year-olds have already weathered a financial crisis in 2008 as children, meaning the current cost-of-living crisis has had “little impact” on consumer confidence.
“The luxury market has many drivers of resilience including a diffused YOLO culture, a desire to live lost experiences and a change in consumer attitudes,” D’Arpizio told Dailymail.com.
Just a few years ago, public relations guru Megan Zuckerman would never have dreamed of paying hundreds of dollars to attend a lavish event.
The 28-year-old lived in Manhattan and paid $2,000 a month in rent, leaving little money for designer dresses and high society life.
But today her life looks very different: she travels freely, buys expensive makeup, and next month she’s attending a non-profit ball that will cost her $1,000 once a rented Bronx and Bancho dress and professional hair and makeup are accounted for. .
Zuckerman said his biggest spend tended to be similar nonprofit events.
“I moved home at the start of the shutdown in 2020 and always planned to return to Manhattan,” said Zuckerman, who earns a six-figure salary and lives with his parents in New Jersey.
‘But I started to realize how much more income I had. When I lived in the city, it felt like all my money was going to rent.
Megan Zuckerman was spending $2,000 a month on rent in Manhattan before moving in with her parents
Zuckerman, 28, pictured, has had more money to spend on dances and nonprofit events since moving in with his parents at the start of the pandemic in 2020.
‘I recently bought three dresses, spending a total of about $500. I think before living at home I probably would have only bought one dress instead of three.
Zuckerman had not lived with his parents full time since moving to boarding school at age 14.
After more than ten years away, she insists that her parents love having her back in the family nest, adding that we are very close. She is planning to move once she can afford a house of her own.
But while the parents of Stone and Zuckerman say they’re happy to have their children back home, critics question whether it’s a sustainable trend, with some calling the generation ‘Mooching Millennials’.
Last month, personal finance guru Dave Ramsey called Millennials and Generation Z still living at home “train wrecks.”
‘Let me understand. You live in your mom’s basement but you have a Coach bag,’ she said on an episode of the ramsey show.
Similarly, television presenter David Webb said Fox News’ Big Sunday Show: ‘Here’s the ‘This is a growing group of people from colleges, many of them with higher education who spend a lot of money, get into debt and don’t move on with their lives.’
‘And look, it’s time to get out of the house.’
Nada Torbica, 22, admits it hasn’t always been easy since she moved in with her parents after graduating from the University of Florida a year ago.
“My mom said at dinner the other night that she liked a full house,” Torbica said.
“But obviously there are other periods where my parents say ‘you have to move’.”
“I like things in a particular way that you can’t do when it’s not your house.”
Torbica, from Baco Raton, Florida, is now looking to move as soon as she can find a place.
But the supply chain manager knows that it will be a sacrifice. The last year at home has allowed him to travel all over the world, something he couldn’t afford while he was paying the rent.
In the last 12 months, he has taken ten vacations that include trips to Europe, Mexico, Colorado, South Carolina and New Orleans. And in December she went to see the Northern Lights in Norway, a vacation that cost her about $1,100.
Torbica frequently posts videos of her travels on Tiktok, often parading on the beach.
Nada Torbica, 22, says that living at home has allowed her to travel much more frequently. Pictured in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado
“My friends who rent definitely know me as the ‘traveller,'” he said.
“I ask them to go on a trip with me, but often they can’t come.
“I have a phone bill and I pay for car insurance, which together is $300 a month, and sometimes I’ll pay for groceries if I really want something, but otherwise I can use my money for travel.”