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Young Adults Are Avoiding Homeownership In Favor Of Renting Due To Economic Recession Concerns

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A large amount of young adults in the US are avoiding homeownership in favor of renting properties, according to new economic data reported by Forbes. Affordability for homes across the country has been consistently increasing, beyond that, the flexibility of renting makes young residents resilient to economic downturns. 

From the 1980s to the 2010s, the average age of first-time homebuyers was late twenties to early thirties. Now, according to the National Association of Realtors, the average age of first time homebuyers in 2024 was 38, an all-time high. NAR also reported that 33% of 27-year-olds owned their home in 2024, compared to 40% of baby boomers when they were 27.  

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First-time home buyers are currently facing high home prices and high mortgage rates. Even though housing affordability slightly improved last year, the supply of available homes continued to increase, showing a lack of transactions. 

Buyers can, and have, utilized the high supply of homes to negotiate lower pricing, however, the general trend is clear; young adults are embracing rentals and avoiding buying.

According to Forbes, lot of young adults opt for renting because they feel it gives them the flexibility they may need in the event of a potential recession. The Census Bureau reported that people who move to metropolitan areas for work tend to find more success than those who remain where they are while looking for a new job. 

The job market is particularly hard to break into in multiple sectors. Many renters are ready and willing to move in order to find the most well-paying job, and by renting instead of buying, they have the flexibility to continue to move should they need to change occupations again. 

The pandemic also caused a massive influx in remote working, which allows many renters to work for jobs that may be based outside of their city. Initially, this trend in working from home actually increased the amount of people who were buying homes, especially considering prices for homes dropped in many areas around the US during the pandemic as well. 

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However, now that we’re no longer living in quarantine, 30-year fixed mortgage rates have more than doubled what they were in 2021, according to reports. 

Young people are also paying great attention to climate change and the devastating impact it has on the economy. Due to the fact that young adults will experience more consequences of climate change than older people, they’re hesitant to make any housing investments due to the financial impact climate change will have in the future. 

The US also experienced a massive increase in the development of multi-family homes that remain vacant. This influx in available properties is actually causing landlords to avoid rental increases as a means of maintaining their tenants. 

“Household growth is slowing, which could mean less demand and lower prices for homes in the future. However, the uncertainty in the economy could continue to make the flexibility of renting more appealing than the commitment of homeownership,” Daryl Fairweather, a real estate contributor for Forbes, wrote

“When every election is the most critical election so far, and every year the nature of work shifts with the culture, and every year there’s a record breaking natural disaster, it’s hard to imagine young adults wanting to anchor themselves in place with homeownership.”

Delays In Adolescents Receiving Their Covid-19 Vaccinations Could Hinder US Recovery

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Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, an expert epidemiologist, recently spoke to the press about how some US populations are seeing an amazing increase in vaccination rates, while other groups in the nation are experiencing lags in their distribution, especially among adolescents, which could lead to a major delay in the country’s recovery as a whole. 

Children currently account for 25% of all Covid-19 cases in America due to the fact that they’re not yet vaccinated. 

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“As we’ve gotten more and more of our seniors vaccinated, more and more people with pre-existing conditions, more and more people who may be healthy and younger, the question becomes how do we protect our children?”

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently performed a study in which they examined more than 200 adolescents aged from 12 to 17-years-old who were hospitalized within the first three months of 2021, likely with Covid-19. The report showed that while there were no deaths, a third of the adolescents were admitted to intensive care units because of their illness, and 5% required mechanical ventilation. 

“Every single one of those hospitalizations, every single one of those kids in the ICU, can now be prevented now that vaccinations are available to those 12 to 17. As certain states lag behind the national average vaccination rate, however, it could spell trouble for the youngest and most vulnerable populations. What we also see is that the same places where adults are lagging, teens are lagging,” emergency physician Dr. Anand Swaminathan said to CNN. 

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About 13 states have hit President Joe Biden’s goal of getting 70% of all US adults vaccinated with at least one Covid-19 vaccine by July 4th. However, experts like Leana Wen claim that the parts of the nation with lower vaccination rates are expected to experience another wave of coronavirus infections among its unvaccinated residents. 

“Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Wyoming, Tennessee and West Virginia have the lowest vaccination rates – with less than 50% of adults having received at least one dose. Vermont, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine and New Jersey boast the highest, with 75% or more of their adult population partially vaccinated. One issue for where vaccinations are lagging is lack of access and messaging in certain communities,” Dr. Swaminathan explained.

“There are people who don’t understand the fact that this is free. That messaging hasn’t been done as much as it should be.There are barriers for people who can’t get paid time off of work or have issues finding childcare that prevent them from getting the vaccine.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told CNN that he’s optimistic children younger than 12 could receive their vaccinations by Thanksgiving this year. 

“We are now doing studies that are ongoing, studies that are looking at what we call age de-escalation, children from 12 to 9 and ten 9 to 6 and then 6 to 2 and then 6 months to 2 years. We hope that as we approach the end of the calendar year we’ll have enough information to vaccinate children of any age.” 

Scientist Holding Moderna Vaccine

Moderna Says Their Covid-19 Vaccine Is Safe For Adolescents 

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Moderna announced this Tuesday that their Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective in adolescents. The company is basing the announcement after completing phase 2 of 3 of a trial of 3,732 children aged from 12 to 17 in the US. 

Blood tests showed that the vaccine produces an immune response that was equivalent to the findings in adults. 

The trial wasn’t designed to look at efficacy, but more so how safe it was for younger teens and adolescents to take it. Initial observations did show that none of the children who received the vaccine got sick with Covid-19 starting 14 days after their second dose. 

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“Four of the children who received the placebo tested positive for Covid-19, which is consistent with a vaccine efficacy of 100%, that figure could also change as more data is collected.”

The results also showed that the vaccine was 93% effective after one dose at preventing mild cases of Covid-19; meaning only one or two symptoms would appear in anyone who tests positive after being vaccinated. 

The company said “the vaccine was generally well tolerated and no significant safety concerns were identified. Side effects included headache, fatigue, muscle pain and chills after administration of the second dose. Pain at the injection site was also sometimes observed.”

Moderna is planning on submitting the results to the US Food and Drug Administration in early June along with a request for authorization to use the vaccine in adolescents. The data will also be submitted to a peer-reviewed publication, as every other vaccine has in America. 

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The Moderna vaccine was already authorized in the US for individuals 18 and older, and after Moderna requests an emergency use authorization from the FDA it’s likely that it will be approved for all Americans aged 12 and up. 

The FDA has already approved of the Pfizer vaccine to be given to adolescents aged between 12 and 15, previously it was only available for those 16 and older. The fact that both of these vaccines have already been used frequently in adults all across America, experts claim it makes sense that they’re both also effective in younger individuals. 

According to reports from CNN, “both Pfizer and Moderna are currently testing their vaccines in younger children, ages 6 months to 11 years. Because those age groups may require varying doses, the process will likely take a little longer.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases recently claimed that elementary aged children likely won’t be vaccinated until the end of the year, however, he’s confident that every American, regardless of age, will be eligible by 2022.

Children Drinking Juice Box

Manchester Schools To Perform Study On Children’s Wellbeing Post-Pandemic 

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A multitude of school districts in Manchester are participating in a study that’s looking into the wellbeing of children and their emotional responses to reentering the world as the pandemic reaches its eventual end. Two-thirds of parents believe that mental health should be prioritized over academic attainment in the coming school year. 

The Greater Manchester Young People’s Wellbeing Program will be running the study that will be gathering data from tens of thousands of young students across 250 secondary schools in the city of Manchester. This is the first study of its kind in the UK, and it will begin collecting data this fall. Initially, the program will attempt to learn young people’s feelings and concerns over returning to school, as well as their physical activity. 

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Research is also being conducted for the University of Manchester in association with the Anna Freud Center, the Youth Sports Trust, and the Greater Manchester combined authority. This major collaborative effort shows that Manchester authorities and educators are greatly concerned that students won’t be able to learn as successfully due to the amount of adjustments they’ve had to make within the past year. 

David Gregson is a philanthropist who first brought up the idea of performing this study. Gregson argues that “the UK has neglected the wellbeing and physical health of children in favor of academic attainment, to the detriment of their actual development.” 

The Youth Sports Trust also recently performed a survey that suggested parents agree with Gregson’s argument. The survey found that “65% of parents believed wellbeing was a key factor in choosing a child’s secondary school, while only 48% said the same of exam results. Meanwhile, 70% of parents with children between the ages of 11 and 16 said their children’s wellbeing had suffered during the pandemic.”

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“I first took this idea to Greater Manchester in 2019 and all Covid has done, as the tide has gone out, is expose the pebbles we knew existed. For me, our education system has become too focused on attainment. A necessary but insufficient assessment,” Gregson said. 

“We’ve got ourselves into the position where we think that attainment is the be-all and end-all and I don’t agree with that. I want to change that dialogue and I want to improve the wellbeing of young people in Greater Manchester to prove that point.”

Gregson claims that all the data collected in this program will be shared with local authorities and government leaders so that they can recognize, and hopefully change, areas of need within the education system. 

“My 10-year plan is to add a second leg to the assessment of young people in Britain that we don’t just think of them as people who get GCSE results,” Gregson said. 

“That we think about another equally important part of their makeup, which is their wellbeing, their sense of self-esteem, their sense of optimism. We’ll need all of that. We needed it pre-Covid and we’ll certainly need it after Covid.”

Crying, Learning, and Laughing - Why Students Visit the Teen Center by Tamika Murray

How To Help Teenagers Navigate These Uncertain Times | Crying, Learning & Laughing by Tamika Murray

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As schools begin to reopen, parents are worried about what the future will hold for their kids, Crying, Learning, and Laughing by Tamika Murray is one place they can find some answers.

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Girl Vaping

Researchers at Yale use Virtual Reality to Fight Teen Vaping

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The phenomenon of teen vaping has certainly drawn a tremendous amount of concern this year, as a record number of teens report using vaping products and public health officials worry that a generation of kids will grow up to suffer from lifelong nicotine addictions due to the explosion in popularity of e-cigarette brands like Juul. Regrettably, while much of the work that’s been done to discourage young people from smoking cigarettes has been successful, teens are developing nicotine addictions nonetheless due to the marketing success of e-cigarette companies, which have been found to deliberately market tobacco products to young people and non-smokers. While vaping is widely considered to be healthier than other forms of tobacco consumption, it carries with it its own set of health risks, as the long-term effects of consuming nicotine via vapor are as-of-yet unknown and a series of vaping-relating hospitalizations earlier this year demonstrated that some vape products can be dangerous and even deadly.

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Dissuading young people from vaping is a difficult task for a number of reasons. For one, nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs that exists, and vaping products allow users to easily consume very large amounts of nicotine relative to smoking cigarettes or other methods of tobacco use. Additionally, as their brains are still developing, teenagers have difficulty assessing risk and making smart long-term decisions for the future, making it harder for them to appreciate the dangerous impact vaping could have on their lives. Teenagers are also notorious for their resistance to authority, and can have a natural inclination to reject messages from authority figures, instead taking cues from their peers in order to fit in with their social environment. Many young people believe vaping to be safer than other forms of nicotine addiction, and while this could be true, such a belief can cloud a person’s judgment when considering whether to start vaping. As such, researchers and doctors must come up with novel solutions for persuading children and teenagers not to engage in dangerous behaviors like vaping.

Like vaping, virtual reality is a new technology that has taken off in recent years

One such solution was imagined at Yale University, where researchers developed a virtual reality video game with the intent of discouraging vaping among teenagers. Like vaping, virtual reality is a new technology that has taken off in recent years, as display technology and advancements in computer graphics have made a product which for decades has been confined to science-fiction stories a reality. The game is called “Invite Only,” and puts players in the role of a student in a high school environment as they engage in scenarios such as being offered a vape pen at school or at a party and encouraging a friend to quit vaping. In addition to its educational value, the game is meant to be fun, engaging players with various activities and mini-games.

Though the project was developed at Yale, it was funded by Oculus, a virtual reality technology company owned by Facebook, and was created in collaboration with PreviewLabs Inc., a New Haven-based game developer. The game is the subject of an ongoing experiment, involving 300 students, designed to assess whether virtual reality technology holds promise as an educational and public health tool. The educational aspect of game-play involves players choosing from a number of dialogue options when engaging in conversations with in-game characters, which tests their knowledge about the effects of vaping products and the availability of resources to help people who want to quit. For instance, the game teaches players that they can text the word “quit” to 47848 for information about vaping-cessation resources, and that they should consult with a trusted adult, such as a parent or doctor, for help with their nicotine addictions.

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In the past, similar programs that leverage gaming to send an anti-drug-use message have been developed, with varying success. But the researchers hope that virtual reality will do a better job by immersing children and teenagers in a virtual environment that helps them imagine how drug use can impact their own lives as well as the lives of their peers, particularly in a world that is densely saturated with tablets and smartphones, which compete for young people’s attention. While the cost of virtual reality has decreased dramatically in recent years, the price of a virtual reality headset can still impose a burden on some, as the Oculus Go headset for which “Invite Only” was developed costs $150 or more. However, if schools are willing to invest in virtual reality technology, researchers hope that this platform can be leveraged not only to dissuade kids from vaping, but for other educational opportunities as well. The Yale researchers expect to have final results from the experiment by next year.

World Mental Health Day

Mental Health Illness In Young People Reaches ‘Alarming’ Rates

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With reports suggesting one person commits suicide every 40 seconds worldwide, there have been calls to address the alarming rates of young people suffering from mental illness.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death amongst young people aged 15 to 29 and became the focus of the World Health Organization (WHO) during this years’ World Mental Health Day.

The WHO are keen to promote measures which can be taken to help prevent and reduce levels of suicide across the world. Their recommendations include reducing access to the means of suicide, ensuring that the media always reports responsibly on the topic, introducing more school/college-based interventions and identifying cases early – such as individuals who already suffer from mental illness or substance abuse.

There are also calls to improve the training of non-specialized health workers, so that they are better able to recognize and monitor those at risk from suicide. Not forgetting that mental health issues can be long term and require continual monitoring, the WHO has also recommended more adequate follow-up care and community support for those who have previously attempted suicide.

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On the November 7th the WHO and UNICEF hosted a global conference to discuss child and adolescent mental health. The WHO’s 2013-2020 action plan aims to reduce global suicide rates by 10% by 2020 and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are aiming for a 33% reduction by 2030.

With an estimated 3.1% of the US population suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder affecting more than 16 million American adults, it is of critical importance that people feel supported through any mental health difficulties but are also empowered with techniques to alleviate any unnecessary feelings of fear, depression and anxiety so that these do not become a wider issue.

Whilst it is true that an element of fear is required for survival and motivation, these feelings can be crippling and have a drastic impact upon someone’s quality of life. Within his new book A Life Without Fear transformational coach Garry Jones is keen to share practical tools and the necessary push to go out, take control and use exactly what works for them to their own benefit.

At the heart of Garry’s process is a simple A.B.C; he encourages people to Accept nothing, Believe nothing and Check everything. He doesn’t think It is enough for people to simply take his word for it that these techniques work, he is passionate that everyone needs to try these tools for themselves to really discover what is most effective for them. Garry explains “The real test is the “Check Everything” part. It is very easy to do the first two using a solid set of beliefs/truths that are yours. The most important part is to check it.”

The book is set out in his M.A.G.I.C.K structure, Meditation, Anchor, Gratitude, Intentions, Cardio and Kin-aesthetic, and within this, he demonstrates the importance of acting upon the advice and techniques he provides. He says “Billions of pounds/dollars are spent each year on self-help books and media. And yet, very few people change. Why? The key to the clue is the very first word – SELF! Taking responsibility for change. Wanting to change. Really wanting to change. So, unless you are prepared to take that to heart, save yourself some money and put this book back on the shelf”

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Garry emphasizes the importance of breathing throughout. For Garry, a life without fear is purely breathing with ease. He thinks that to really minimize fear and embrace life, people need to utilize their whole lung capacity, which currently many people do not, particularly if they are consumed by panic or worry. Garry thinks that breathing has major transformative powers and can alter our body chemistry. Focusing on the out breath helps to reduce these feelings because this activates the Vagus nerve which has the power to change someone’s heartbeat. He also says sufferers should fill the space in their lungs not only with air, but also with gratitude and positivity.

This is alongside clearing out the brain clutter, changing their perspective and embracing the beneficial impact of cardio that he believes also contribute extensively to mental well-being.

For Garry, everyone deserves to live a life without unnecessary fear and it is only by taking action will this be truly possible. It is not enough to simply own and read ‘self-help’ books as he is passionate that action is the vital component needed for release.

“To really move forward individuals need to give themselves permission to change, hold themselves to account and be honest with themselves in order to create a future without fear where they feel truly alive,” explains Garry.