Younger Americans are increasingly turning to cryptocurrency and betting platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket as they navigate a tough economy marked by a shrinking labor market and housing shortages. While older generations enjoy financial stability, younger people face barriers to homeownership and family formation. This shift reflects growing frustration with traditional paths to wealth.
The U.S. economy presents significant hurdles for younger generations, with a contracting labor market and limited prospects for homeownership driving many to seek quick financial gains through gambling and cryptocurrency. Platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket have surged in popularity, allowing users to wager on everyday events via smartphones. The gambling sector has become one of the fastest-growing industries, contributing notably to GDP growth, according to a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report.
Despite this trend, sentiment among young men is turning sour. A Pew Research poll from last August revealed that 47% of men under 30 now view sports betting as harmful to society, up from 22% in 2022. This shift underscores broader discontent amid intense economic pressures.
A key factor is the severe housing shortage, estimated at 15 to 20 million units by the Erdmann Housing Tracker. Prices have soared as a result, leading 22% of Millennials to abandon home-buying plans, per a Bankrate survey. The shortage traces back to the 1970s, when housing starts per million people fell from 50,000 to around 40,000 over three decades, then plummeted to just over 21,000 after the Great Financial Crisis.
Older Americans, particularly baby boomers, contribute to these challenges by opposing new developments. A 2018 Boston University study of zoning meetings found over 60% of comments against new housing, with commenters averaging 58 years old, while the typical U.S. voter is over 50.
Wealth concentration exacerbates the divide: the top 10% of households account for more than half of consumer spending, fueled by paid-off mortgages and tax cuts favoring the affluent. Economists link this to policies like Trump's tariffs and income tax reductions.
This environment fosters what analyst Demitri Kofinas calls 'financial nihilism,' a sense that the system benefits the wealthy and elderly. Kyla Scanlon remarked to CNBC that young Americans feel the 'traditional economic ladder is increasingly out of reach,' leading some to 'just gamble it away.'
Financial analyst Michael Green argues the real poverty line for a family of four nears $140,000 annually—far above the official $32,000—due to rising housing and childcare costs. In an interview with The National News Desk, Green noted that economic stress hinders family formation, prompting tough questions about life's viability and breeding anger: 'That makes people angry, and I don't blame them.'
