How you feel about the current economy probably depends a LOT on how old you are. Baby Boomers are chilling on piles of house money, fat savings, and years of ridiculous stock market growth, while Millennials and Gen Z are trying to dodge student debt grenades and job scarcity. The numbers confirm there's a huge difference between generations, making this a crazily two-faced economy!
Here are Five Fast Facts on our current situation:
- ☠️ Dream Over? - In a recent survey about Americans' views on the economy, almost 70% said the American dream is dead, the highest level in 15 years! Almost 80% thought life would be worse for their kids.
- 🎓 Grad Gap - Recent college grads always have a higher unemployment rate than their parents, but the gap is getting bigger - it's now 6.5% compared to 4.3%, the highest in a decade (not including the pandemic spike). Bogeymen include AI, tariffs, and LinkedIn, but the point is that more adult kids are living at home longer out of necessity. Probably for the free food, too; thanks, Mom!
- 🏠 Homeownership Heartbreak - The best tool of building wealth has become damn near unreachable for young adults. Home prices have spiked by 50% since the beginning of the pandemic, and only 23% say they're confident they can afford to buy a home of their own. Many young adults have just given up on catching that unicorn.
- 💸 Debt Dance - Gen Z has by far the highest average personal debt, at just over $94k, almost double their parents' generations (Millennials around $59k and Gen Xers around $53k). It's like opposite day, where those with the least ability to pay things back have the most to pay back. Irony, anyone?
- 🫴 Helping Hand - All these reasons explain why roughly half of all US parents are financially supporting their Millennial and Gen Z kids.
🔥Bottom line: Basically, the older generations got to play “Life: The Board Game” on easy mode - buy a house, get a pension, retire with a smile. Meanwhile, their kids are playing “Survivor: Good Luck Edition” where job interviews are boss level, student loans are the final dragon, and owning a house is a myth told by realtors. But hey, at least there are memes, side hustles, and iced coffee to keep you going while you respawn for another round.
Have you seen this difference yourself?
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