Young people in economically developed countries are increasingly expressing pessimism about their financial future. Student debt, unaffordable housing, and difficulties in finding employment create a persistent feeling that it was much easier for previous generations to achieve prosperity. However, research data paints a much more complex and ambiguous picture.
Two Conflicting Statistics
The scientific community has not reached a consensus on whether the current younger generation is objectively poorer.
On one hand, data from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) indicates that in the UK, millennials are experiencing for the first time that their incomes by age 30 are lower than those of previous generations. This breaks a long-standing trend of increasing wealth observed since the 1930s. A similar trend is recorded by the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality: only 44% of Americans born in the late 1980s had achieved a higher socioeconomic status than their parents by age 30, while 49% found themselves a step below.
On the other hand, a number of economists and analysts (e.g., in The Atlantic) argue that in the long run, millennials are more financially successful. While the 2008 crisis dealt a heavy blow to those just starting their careers, their incomes have shown steady growth since the mid-2010s.
Polarization Instead of a General Rule
A large-scale study conducted in 2023 by the University of Cambridge, Humboldt University, and the Sciences Po institute offers the most balanced assessment. Surveying 6,000 representatives each from the baby boomer and millennial generations, the scientists concluded that the financial situation of young people critically depends on their chosen life path.
Millennials employed in low-paying service sectors or forced to live with their parents genuinely face serious economic difficulties. However, those who followed the classic middle-class path (obtained higher education and built stable careers) had accumulated significantly more wealth by middle age than their baby boomer peers at the same age.
Psychology of Perception
Why do objective data often diverge from subjective feelings? Experts identify two key factors. Firstly, the trauma from the 2008 global financial crisis has instilled a deep sense of financial insecurity in young people for a long time. Secondly, social media provokes constant comparisons with the "filtered" success of others, which distorts the real picture and intensifies the feeling of personal financial inadequacy.
Conclusion
To claim that the entire younger generation is doomed to poverty is a dangerous oversimplification. The reality is that economic opportunities today depend more on education and professional choices than ever before. This creates not universal poverty, but deep polarization within the generation itself: the gap between its most successful and most vulnerable representatives is constantly widening.
