To the percentage of millennials who decided not to live with their families, most of them consider an apartment as their home. In comparison to the generation that came before them, millennials are pretty late in the game when it comes to purchasing their own houses.
Apartment living is quite different from home living. Because of the limited space, as well as the shared spaces in some housing complex, adapting to their setting means maximizing the space they have.
They have mastered living efficiently despite the space restrictions. What they can do in a typical house, they can’t do in their apartments. This includes customary household chores like cooking and doing the laundry. Millennials rarely cook in their homes, not only because of the space constraint but also because of time constraints. Similarly, having laundry rooms is nearly impossible.
In Springfield, laundromats are becoming popular once more. The same can be said in other US cities. Although such business rose decades ago, at the time when washing machines are too expensive for common folks, laundry shops still exist today because of their convenience. The self-service set-up only requires, more or less, an hour out of people’s busy schedule. This provides the millennials with enough time to explore the “life” part in their most desired work-life balance.
On top of household chores, apartment-living for millennials created a totally new lifestyle. Here is a list of lifestyle activities which show how millennials are departing from the traditions created by the generation before them:
Millennial couples are choosing to cohabitate instead of moving in together after the wedding.
This may not bode well for the more traditional parents, but many millennial couples are opting to try living together before they put it in black and white. It could be the result of higher rent and lower-income. Renting together means cutting the household expenses in half. Not only are the couples having a glimpse of their life together, but they are also saving money. In addition, sociologists are trying to explore if there is a connection between this living condition and the decline in divorce.
Millennials prefer wine and gin over beer.
Despite the rise in numbers of small scale brewing companies and the reintroduction of beer through craft beers, millennials remain loyal to wine and gin. The image of the typical American opening a bottle of beer after a busy workday proves to be another vision of the past. Now, whether alone or with the company of friends, a goblet of red wine or a glass of gin and tonic is how they typically relax after a tough day. Millennials are known to be mindful of their health. They would gladly choose the antioxidants of wine than the calories of beer. At the same time, they enjoy ritualistic activities like making and serving a cocktail. It works as an alternative to preparing dishes from scratch, which they normally can’t, considering the lack of time and space in their apartment homes.
Millennials are more likely to have their meals delivered.
On top of shopping at wellness groceries that offer microwavable and pre-prepared meals, millennials are bound to eat out or have their meals delivered at home. Along with the issue of space and time, millennials do enjoy eating out. They like trying out newly-opened restaurants and sharing their reviews of each one. They also tend to be loyal to the ones they really like.
All these are proofs of how millennials are adaptable to their situation. Just like any other generation, they are merely trying to get by.
