High Housing Costs Are Pushing Some Americans to Make Major Family Sacrifices, Like Delaying Having Kids Or Giving Up Pets

With nearly half of homeowners and renters struggling to afford housing, we’re taking a look at the family-related changes and sacrifices they’re making. Some are moving in with romantic partners, while others are continuing to live with their exes. 

More than two in five (44.4%) U.S. homeowners and renters struggle to afford their regular rent or mortgage payments, according to a recent Redfin survey. We consider survey respondents to struggle with housing payments if they selected “I struggle greatly to afford them,” “I regularly struggle, but sometimes okay,” or “I sometimes struggle, but generally okay.”

We asked the homeowners and renters who struggle which sacrifices or changes they make to afford housing. While the most commonly cited ones have relatively low stakes, like nixing restaurant meals or vacations, some people are making major family-related sacrifices, like deciding against or delaying having children or putting off a divorce. It’s rare for people to make such extreme sacrifices, but we’re shining a light on them because they speak to the lengths people go to make their housing payments. Please note that we report on the most common sacrifices Gen Zers and millennials are making to afford housing in this separate report. 

Some People Are Moving in With Parents, Living With Exes to Afford Housing

Just over one in 20 (6.4%) of the people who struggle to afford housing said they moved in with their parents, and 6.2% moved in with other family members. Roughly the same share, 5.7%, moved in with roommates to afford their monthly housing costs, and 2.8% moved in with their grown children. 

Americans are also making changes–or not making changes–to their romantic relationships to afford housing. One in 20 (5.3%) respondents who struggle with monthly payments said they moved in with a romantic partner to afford them. On the flip side, 2.8% postponed getting a divorce or separation, presumably because they were unable to afford housing on their own. Anecdotally, some divorced couples are sharing the former family home because they don’t want to sell it and lose their sub-3% mortgage rate, per the Wall Street Journal. 

Four percent of people who struggle with monthly payments have decided against or delayed having a child to afford housing costs, 4.4% gave up or reduced college savings for their children, and 3% enrolled their kids in a low-rated school. 

On the fur-child front, 4.6% of respondents said they had to give up their pet(s) to afford housing. 

The survey results in this report are from a Redfin-commissioned survey conducted by Ipsos in May 2025, fielded to more than 4,000 U.S. homeowners and renters. This report focuses on the nearly 2,000 respondents who said they struggle to afford housing. The results for this combined group of survey respondents have a credibility interval of +/-2.7 percentage points. The survey asked the respondents who said they struggle to afford their regular rent or mortgage payment (greatly, regularly, or sometimes) the following question: Which of the following, if any, changes or sacrifices did you make in the past year to afford your monthly housing costs, including mortgage or rent, insurance, parking, heating/cooling/electricity or HOA dues? Respondents could select all that apply from a list of sacrifices/changes; the full list is at the end of this report.

Many Americans struggle with their housing payments because even though incomes have increased over the last several years, housing costs have increased more. The median U.S. home-sale price has risen more than 40% since before the pandemic, mortgage rates have roughly doubled, and the median asking rent has increased by more than 22%. 

“Homes are so expensive that it takes two incomes to afford pretty much anything,” said Matt Purdy, a Redfin Premier agent in Denver. “Most people are buying their homes with a partner, and using both of their incomes to qualify for a loan. A few buyers I’m working with have the intent of co-owning with roommates, so they can build equity in a home rather than rent and have a similar living situation.”

The most common sacrifices homeowners and renters make to afford their housing payments are not related to family, and less consequential than something like deciding against having a child. Two in five (41%) of those who struggle with housing payments reported eating out at restaurants less often to afford housing, making it the most commonly cited sacrifice. It’s followed by taking no or fewer vacations (34.6%). The full results are in the table below.