Economy Gen Z is making less than millennials made a decade ago at the same age.

[Whippy McGee]

It's pretty simple actually.

The more the government spends, the worse the citizens will be off financially. Both parties suck ass.

 

[Rational Poster]

Due to inflation, each generation’s money is worth much less. Wages have NOT risen anywhere near the rate of inflation. That is why the boomers were able to amass so much wealth. They had the best value for their dollar and stuff was cheap. Tuition, houses, food, cars.. literally everything. They also had pensions then where now, good luck getting a defined benefits pension.

You really think gen Z will amass the same wealth as boomers when they’re struggling to survive? I see a major shift in just 10 years lol. Mid 30’s. The routes I took now would be nowhere near as lucrative as they were when I took them. The door slammed pretty hard around Covid.

This a pretty child like view on inflation.

The money isn't worth less. The goods and services are in higher demand. The dollar is actually trading very strong against almost every international currency.

While there is a planned rate of monetary inflation, the rate is calculated and wages are adjusted for inflation.

This concept of inflation you're fear mongering about just does not exist. People do not hoard vast quantities of currencies for decades or more while it depreciates.

You earn money and you spend it or invest it, immediately accessing the current value within your lifetime and losing none of it to inflation.

 

[RoastBeast]

What the hell? The average millennial between 22-24 was making $51,000? In what fucking universe? When I was that age I was probably pulling in just over $20k GROSS working full time. Everybody that I knew at that age was making 7 or 8 bucks an hour in retail, fast food, or was a waiter doing slightly better.

Yeah I was making about $21k a year when I was 22-24. I finished my AA degree when I was about 23. Upped it to about 31k a year when I was 25-26. Then I was actually able to start using my degree toward a career after that and it rose an average of 10k a year all the way up until I topped out a bit over 100k.

Even adjusted for inflation, I wasn't anywhere close to 51k a year as a 22-24 year old. Out of the say 50 people I knew that were around my age at the time, maybe 2-3 of them at most were making 51k and this was in California. They were able to get jobs with PG&E, CHP etc. The rest of us were working retail, car dealerships and juggling going to school. Most people don't get to go to a 4 year university right out of high school and hit the job market at 22.

 

[djacobox372]

Why is this news? When you adjust for inflation/cost of living, GenX made less than Boomers, and Millennials made less than Gen-X

It was pretty normal for a 20 something Gen-Xr in the 90's to bring in 100k a year while working in a skilled field.... in today's money that would be 250k.

 

[gspieler]

Democrat policy takes money from the average joe. Everything the Biden admin has done has taken away from us.

Reagan economy was pretty strong. I was doing fine with the Trump admin. I lost a lot during the Obama admin, mainly because of ACA. The past few years have been an absolute train wreck for the working stiff and I'm pretty sure its a democrat in office.

The economy fell off a cliff under Hoover, took a big hit during Regan admin, Bush Sr's presidency was mostly a recession, the economy fell off a cliff again under Bush Jr. There is a clearly a common denominator here.

Obama inherited the worst economy since FDR, and the economy rebounded dramatically anyway, and somehow he gets blamed for a mess he never made.

I'm deliberately not bringing Trump/Biden, because there were obvious external factors beyond their control(unless you're full-on tin foil about the pandemic).

 

[RoastBeast]

Why is this news? When you adjust for inflation/cost of living, GenX made less than Boomers, and Millennials made less than Gen-X

It was pretty normal for a 20 something Gen-Xr in the 90's to bring in 100k a year while working in a skilled field.... in today's money that would be 250k.

It was not normal for 20 something year olds to be making equivalent to 250k in the 90s.

 

[Patrick Jane]

I'm not surprised. I have seen some Gen Z individuals.

 

[no fat chicks]

Who do you think boomer and gen x wealth will be passed down to when they die?

Health care providers and cruise ships

 

[Zazen]

The nursing home Seano is living in really should take away his internet

 

[Hdfi]

Gen Z is more lazy than Millennials.

 

[Blayt7hh]

Monetary inflation is exactly there to pin this at the start of any explanation.

Well no it isn’t. Inflation only devalues existing wealth. That doesn’t explain why they would be making less money than someone working the same job 20 years ago would be making after adjusting for inflation.

What’s been devalued is basically everyone’s labor but the 1%. But they have been given all the power so here we are spiraling back into the middle ages

 

[Blayt7hh]

Pretty sure if you look at the numbers, the economy does better under democrats than Republicans bud. Also, how does things like supporting right to work laws and cutting funding for the consumer financial protection bureau help the working class ?

True, but it could do a lot better under someone like Bernie in the long run that was set on revitalizing the middle class.

I would also say that both sides are wrong about today. The economy is not better or worse than it was. It’s doing something we haven’t seen before. For some that’s been good and for others it hasn’t.

It’s also an era of uncertainty. I’m completely convinced that anyone that tells you they can predict where the economy is going is full of shit. There’s a lot that’s going on right now that we have no historical reference for

 

[Rob Battisti]

Well no it isn’t. Inflation only devalues existing wealth. That doesn’t explain why they would be making less money than someone working the same job 20 years ago would be making after adjusting for inflation.

What’s been devalued is basically everyone’s labor but the 1%. But they have been given all the power so here we are spiraling back into the middle ages

Yes it does. Monetary inflation underpins how the economic system works which leads to what we are experiencing

 

[RemyR]

Productivity has not increased in line with inflation since like the 60s I believe. Meanwhile cooperations gain record profits. I think that the answer is clear.

Spoiler

Unionize

 

[Madmick]

“Gen Z have been relentlessly mocked for spending money they don’t have on avocado toasts, designer bags and luxury holidays—and then complaining that they’ll never be able to save up enough for a house deposit. ”


Pretty sure Millennials were mocked in the exact same fashion for the last 10 or 15 years, right down to the avocado toast. Why are we pretending that didn’t happen?

Could it be that after enough time passed to gather statistics we learned that Millennial's raw earning actually exceeded previous generations even adjusted for inflation, and so they probably don't want to draw attention to the fact they never really had an excuse not to afford a home in the first place?

We'll keep that separate from the fact that those who cite the average cost of homes rising back then ignored that the average house had evolved to include 2.5x as many bathrooms as those 50-70 years prior (I forget which of those it was), a much higher average total square footage, and also greater amenities owed to the fact they were adapted to conform to increased government regulations on building code.

 

[CantCucktheTuck]

Productivity has not increased in line with inflation since like the 60s I believe. Meanwhile cooperations gain record profits. I think that the answer is clear.

Spoiler

Unionize

worked out great for Detroit. We need to bring that same energy to the rest of the country.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Could it be that after enough time passed to gather statistics we learned that Millennial's raw earning actually exceeded previous generations even adjusted for inflation, and so they probably don't want to draw attention to the fact they never really had an excuse not to afford a home in the first place?

We'll keep that separate from the fact that those who cite the average cost of homes rising back then ignored that the average house had evolved to include 2.5x as many bathrooms as those 50-70 years prior (I forget which of those it was), a much higher average total square footage, and also greater amenities owed to the fact they were adapted to conform to increased government regulations on building code.

I’m not commenting on whether or not Millennials actually had it hard or not. I’ve never been one to advocate that millenials had a raw deal as whether they did or didn’t I personally didn’t give a shit as despite technically being a millennial myself I pursued a more “traditional” path along the lines of Gen X or Baby Boomers as I went straight into undergrad after high school, then into law school, graduated at 25, married and bought a house at 27, father at 30. Never had any “gap years”, never whined about not being able to “figure it out” or find a job or afford a house. Have never eaten avocado toast.

All I’m saying is that ten years ago you would often see written in opinion pieces “maybe Millenials could afford a house if they didn’t spend so much on avocado toast and Starbucks!”

Exhibit A:

Millionaire tells millennials: if you want a house, stop buying avocado toast | Avocados | The Guardian

Australian real estate mogul Tim Gurner advised young people to solve their housing woes by putting their ‘$22 a pop’ toast toward a deposit instead

amp.theguardian.com

 

[Madmick]

I’m not commenting on whether or not Millennials actually had it hard or not. I’ve never been one to advocate that millenials had a raw deal as whether they did or didn’t I personally didn’t give a shit as despite technically being a millennial myself I pursued a more “traditional” path along the lines of Gen X or Baby Boomers as I went straight into undergrad after high school, then into law school, graduated at 25, married and bought a house at 27, father at 30. Never had any “gap years”, never whined about not being able to “figure it out” or find a job or afford a house. Have never eaten avocado toast.

All I’m saying is that ten years ago you would often see written in opinion pieces “maybe Millenials could afford a house if they didn’t spend so much on avocado toast and Starbucks!”

Exhibit A:

Millionaire tells millennials: if you want a house, stop buying avocado toast | Avocados | The Guardian

Australian real estate mogul Tim Gurner advised young people to solve their housing woes by putting their ‘$22 a pop’ toast toward a deposit instead

amp.theguardian.com

I wasn't disputing the accuracy of your claim. I was only highlighting that observing it doesn't spare Millennials from the teeth of its critique given a retrospective consideration of their economic reality; however, I'll add, nor does the fact history is repeating itself with the rhetoric entail that Gen Z doesn't have a legitimate gripe even if their predecessor's did not. If the rhetoric was valid before, it probably isn't now. The statistics observed in the article make a strong case. They are having to incur higher debt than ever before, especially if they follow the "traditional" path as you just highlighted it. Housing prices, even rental prices, have skyrocketed even far above and beyond the already outrageous inflation rates that formed the hard bed for this generation's landing. Worst of all, they appear to be earning less.

Real estate developers aren't even interested in selling to them. So many of those new housing mega-complexes are built specifically around a rent-based model. These aren't duplexes or mutliplexes. They want people to rent homes. They see more revenue.