Whatever your financial situation, you can sometimes forget that far from everyone lives just like you. Those having money problems might be stunned to learn that others don’t count every penny like they do. And the opposite is true, too, as one redditor showed us that the rich can be completely clueless and wrapped up in their own little world.
In a viral post on the r/AITA community, redditor AdOpen1605 wanted to find out if they were a jerk for calling out their well-off colleagues who said that they can’t imagine not being able to afford buying a house. Well, the original poster couldn’t keep silent (and, I suspect, not many of us could if we were in their shoes, either).
Have a read through the full story below and we can’t wait to hear what you think about the situation, dear Pandas! And if for some reason you feel bad about not being able to afford a home, trust me, you really aren’t alone. The stats don’t lie.
One employee called out their rich colleagues who had some illusions about home ownership
Image credits: Jopwell (not the actual photo)
Image credits: midiman (not the actual photo)
In a piece for Inc., Jessica Stillman writes about how property-data firm Attom Data Solutions showed how in 74 percent of the United States, the average family can’t afford to buy the median house.
Or, to put it bluntly, in three-quarters of the US, homeownership is out of the question for the average workers. Their average weekly wage simply isn’t enough to cover the mortgage, property taxes, and insurance you’d have to pay for an average house.
However, despite all of this, Statista’s stats show that homeownership rates have actually increased greatly over the past few years. The rate stood at 63.7 percent in 2016 and steadily climbed to 65.8 percent in 2020.
After the redditor shared their opinion, there was a lot of awkwardness in the office
Image credits: AdOpen1605
“The homeownership rate is the proportion of occupied households which are occupied by the owners. This reached its peak in 2004 before the 2007-2009 recession hit and decimated the housing market. The rate continued to fall until 2016, but has begun to increase again since then,” Statista explains.
According to Statista, Americans still believe that owning their own home is part of the American Dream. After the recession, it was financial hardship, rather than a change in this belief, that led to a drop in homeownership rates.
“Homeownership trends vary from generation to generation. Homeownership among Americans over 65 years old is declining, whereas most Millennial renters plan to buy a home in the near future. This suggests that homeownership will remain important in the future, as Millennials are forecast to head most households over the next two decades,” Statista made predictions about the future.
Like you probably could have expected, the r/AITA community slapped a big old NTA sign on AdOpen1605’s post, proclaiming that the redditor wasn’t a jerk for speaking their mind while their coworkers were having a moan about anyone who can’t buy a house.
The redditor’s colleagues then suggested that they could help them ‘better themselves’ so that they could afford a home. Even though they might have meant it in a supportive way (getting a good education can really open a lot of doors that you previously thought were locked to you), it sounded very condescending.
And just because a handful of people were able to ‘work their way up,’ it doesn’t mean that it’s the only factor to consider. Effort and hard work don’t always result in success. Timing, risk, taking advantage of opportunities, knowing the right connections, and even plain old luck can greatly affect whether or not you’ll end up being successful.
Here's how the redditors of the r/AITA community reacted to the story
What’s the homeownership situation like in your country, dear Pandas? Just how difficult is it to buy a house? Do you plan on getting a house in the near future or will you settle for an apartment? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.