Eating out less? Fine. Putting off a haircut? They’ll survive. Living with parents a little longer? Apparently doable.
Gen Z is cutting back, but not necessarily to save for the house, car, and family that once defined the American Dream. For many young adults, the thing worth protecting is travel—even as trips get more expensive. Average U.S. travel costs in August were 9% higher than a year earlier, according to NerdWallet’s Travel Price Index, with airfares up 23.4%.
Yet nearly 44% of U.S. Gen Z travelers say they frequently or very frequently take spontaneous leisure trips, compared with 25.2% of American travelers overall, according to Future Partners. If travel is getting more expensive but remains a priority, something else has to give.
Housing, the centerpiece of the old American Dream, may be where that shift is clearest.
Among Gen Z renters, 83% say renting allows them to save for life experiences rather than tie up money in homeownership, according to a January 2025 survey of roughly 2,000 Gen Z renters by property management software company Entrata and Qualtrics.
Owning a Home Feels Out of Reach — So Gen Z Is Spending Big in Another AreaRead more: https://t.co/xU7REuCLoq
— Entrepreneur (@Entrepreneur) October 7, 2026
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