Because they saw their Gen X parents crash and burn. Or live life on the edge of crashing and burning.
Or maybe because they saw their Gen X parents buck the trend of following the American dream set largely by the baby boomers.
Large swaths of Generation Z will resist traditional full-time employment, home ownership and the stressful overhead of the American dream in favor of their iteration of a semi-retired life.
Amid interrelated housing and retirement crises of epic proportion, this is my optimistic prediction. That young — and young-minded — people will start living life differently. In fact, quite a few already are.