The American dream of buying a home, starting a family, and living an above average life has all but died in recent years. The middle class has slowly been evaporating in the sands of bad policies from the Biden administration, and a steady comedy of errors from an inept or deliberately negligent system. Inflation has sky rocketed, home prices have risen to record highs, and especially for young Americans, the dream has become a nightmare.

For years, the system was tailored toward favoring illegal immigrants and private equity firms, the latter of which pushing out young homebuyers in favor of renting properties. President Trump is doing his best to bring down costs, even proposing the idea of a 60-year mortgage, which has been met with skepticism. But they are leaving no stone unturned to address what has become a crisis in the country, which is the death of the American dream for actual young Americans.

Zachary Mettler of Focus on the Family says the rising costs, especially in the last five years, have put a stranglehold on young people.

"Inflation overall, what costed $100 in January 2020 costs $125 today...homes are now more expensive than any time since World War II," he says.

Again, President Trump has been doing his part, and inflation has been coming down. But it will still take time to fix the damage that was done by the Biden administration. A December Gallup poll shows 47-percent of Americans describe the current economic conditions as "poor," the highest since September 2024.

The problem among young Americans is they believe that the government alone is going to fix the problem. When in reality, the government created the problem. As it usually does, the issue began during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Federal Reserve in 2020 decided to buy up $1.4 trillion in mortgage bonds mid-pandemic, which lit the fuse to the time bomb.

"That really led to the skyrocketing home prices we see today, with the typical first-time homebuyer now being 40 years old, which is the oldest on record," says Mettler.

You can barely rely on the federal government to get their own house in order, let alone an entire housing market. So, as we always have to do in a changing economy, we adapt. While Trump works to at least amend the situation, young Americans have to have a moment of self-reflection, too.

"We really need to learn to live on less than we make, create and live on a budget, choose to sacrifice financially, pay off debt, pick up a second job if necessary, and save for the future," Mettler says. "Do not look to the government to solve the problem they created, look in the mirror, because that is where the solution starts."

There is going to be some bad dreams to get back to what the American dream once was, and it will take some self-sacrifice and reflection. But if Trump can do what he is aiming, and Americans focus on adapting, the nightmare might finally come to an end.

Armstrong & Getty