Millennials are too poor to live the lifestyle they want, federal study says
Dec 10, 2018
A new study from the Federal Reserve has found that millennials are similar to earlier generations in what they want economically. However, they have less money than Generation X and baby boomers had when they were young, according to the study.
“Millennials are less well off than members of earlier generations when they were young, with lower earnings, fewer assets, and less wealth,” the study said. “Conditional on their age and other factors, millennials do not appear to have preferences for consumption that differ significantly from those of earlier generations.”
The study found that millennials — who are believed to have less interest in the staples of American life, like buying a home or a car — just might not have enough money to do so, according to Bloomberg’s report on the study.
“Their spending habits are a lot like the generations that came before them, they just have less money at this point in their lives, the Fed study found. The group born between 1981 and 1997 has fallen behind because many of them came of age during the financial crisis.”
Earnings: The average real labor earnings for male household leaders who work full time were 18 percent and 27 percent higher for Gen Xers and baby boomers, respectively, compared to millennials, Business Insider reports.
It was a smaller difference for women: 12 percent for Generation X and 24 percent for baby boomers.
The study said there is “little evidence that millennial households have tastes and preference for consumption that are lower than those of earlier generations.”