Millennials’ Worth 50% Less Then Boomers’ During Same Life Stage
Despite being better educated, Millennials, on average, make 20% less than their parents did during the same life stage.
Fully 63% of Millennials have more than $10,000 in Student Debt, they will be paying if for many years to come.
A new study released today brings a whole new meaning to every Baby Boomer’s chastising “When I was your age…” speech.
Boomers, during the same same life stage as today’s Millennials, owned 2X the value of assets and earned a 20% higher salary, according to Washington, DC based nonprofit Young Invincibles.
Referencing the Survey of Consumer Finances, a public survey of 6,500 people by the Fed’s Board of Governors, the study compares the financial status of 25- to 34-year-olds in Y 1989 with those of the same age in Y 2013.
While today’s young adults are more educated than their parents’ generation, a college degree saddled with student debt does little to boost financial security today.
A Millennial with a college degree and student debt today earns the equivalent of what a young adult without a college degree earned in Y 1989. What’s more, those with debt have a lower net wealth than their peers who have only a high school education.
The study also delves into the large gap in financial security among ethnicity.
Black Millennials have 10% of the wealth of their White counterparts today.
Latinos and Blacks earn 0.64 and 0.57, respectively, for every 1.00 earned by White Millennials. While Latino young adults are out earning what their parents made 25 years ago, young Black’s net worth has declined by about 33% since Y 1989.
Young Invincibles advocate for Millennials in debates on education, jobs, and health care, and they point out that “young adults’ financial security is the financial security of America as a whole.”
The think tank recommends reforming minimum wage and housing policies to address baseline needs for young people.
Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit and providing protection for low-income workers would benefit Millennials who are leading the charge in today’s non-traditional work force and often struggling financially for it.
The group stresses the importance of Pell Grants, financial aid and apprenticeship programs to ensure young people have access to affordable education, which will in turn earn them higher wages.
Stay tuned…
Millennials’ Worth 50% Less Than Boomers’ During Same Life Stage added by Paul Ebeling on
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