I Will No Longer Oppose Socialism

John Stossel is on a constant mission to tell Millennials and Zoomers that they’ve got it way better than their parents ever did. 

Stossel breathlessly tells us in an October 1 Reason magazine article, “Today, Americans actually spend a smaller percentage of our money on food, clothing, and housing than we used to, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics survey data.”

Well, that is how it’s supposed to be under a free market economy. But is our economy a free market? And are young people spending less?

It depends a lot on how you slice the data. Every aspect of the Facebook post above, which accurately quotes the Reason article, is gravely misleading. Sure, of course 25-year olds are spending less on housing and food…because they’re living in their parents’ basement. Young people aged 25-34 owning homes used to be more than 50% of households back in 1980, but home ownership rate for that demographic has fallen precipitously to 33%. Mommy and daddy’s rent is cheap for their 30-year-old children still living at home, and their food is cheap too.