Hey, Gen-Xers, Housing Mess Is Your Fault

They borrowed too much to avoid fractured family of their youth
By Kristina Loew,  Newser User
Posted Dec 23, 2008 5:30 PM CST
Hey, Gen-Xers, Housing Mess Is Your Fault
The days of Gen-X's youth made them yearn for a solid home for their own children.   (Flickr)

Stung by the divorces and TV dinners of their youth, Gen-Xers spent whatever it took to make a happy home for themselves and their kids—even when they couldn't afford it, writes Susan Gregory Thomas in Babble. OK, that may be "harsh and exaggerated," she notes. But from massive mortgages to tricked out-kitchens, Gregory says they (and, therefore, she) share the blame for our current financial woes.

More than 61% of Gen-Xers owned homes in 2005—more than any other generation—as those "crawling our way out of the wreckage of the dot-bomb period" found no-money-down mortgages irresistible. Assured of their earning potential—their median income in 2003 was about 50% higher than older baby boomers—"the collective feeling was, basically: screw stocks, invest in a home, pay for it when you get back on your feet." (More bank stories.)

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