A majority of millennials do not believe they have the same opportunities to build wealth through investing as did their baby boomer parents, according to the second report of a multi-part study by Money Crashers, the personal finance education website.
From July 7 through November 5, 2019, Money Crashers surveyed 1,017 U.S. adults between the ages of 23 and 38 (millennials) and 55 and 73 (baby boomers) on social media, by e-mail, in online forums, and through the Prolific research platform. Three times as many Millennials participated in the survey (417) than Baby Boomers (157), for a total of 574 respondents representing the two generations.
Money Crashers asked survey participants if they believed millennials had fewer financial opportunities than prior generations.
The majority of millennials (53%) disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement, “My generation has the same opportunity to build wealth through investing as previous generations.” By comparison, only 21% of baby boomers felt the same way. In fact, 63% of baby boomer respondents said they believed they have the same opportunity to grow their wealth as the generations that came before them.
Money Crashers found that the generational divide on the issue could be attributed to several factors, bssed on data from reports published by the Urban Institute and the Pew Research Center. First, millennials reported earning 20% less than baby boomers did at the same age, even though 39% of millennials have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 25% of baby boomers who had them at the same age. In addition, although millennials represent one-quarter of the national population, they own just 3% of the country’s wealth, while baby boomers owned 21% at the same age.
Second, Money Crashers also found that the last recession had a greater impact on millennials than it did on baby boomers. Although the national unemployment rate in October 2009 was 10.2%, for millennials between 20 and 24 years of age, the rate was 15.6%, while for baby boomers between 45 and 54 it was 7.9%.
Third, there is a lack of class mobility among millennials to a greater extent than there is among baby boomers because of the greater market demand for post-secondary education, Money Crashers said. In 1970, only 26% of middle-class workers had any type of post-secondary education, but that is no longer the case. Millennials seeking jobs that pay a comparable middle-class salary in 2020 are financing the cost of their education, even though college tuition and fees have more than tripled since 1980.
Fourth, home prices have far outpaced inflation, while wages haven’t kept up with the cost of living. As a result, only a third of millennials (37%) are homeowners, fewer than baby boomers at the same age.
Finally, the generational divide is attributable to retirement options. When baby boomers entered the workforce, many companies offered pension plans that provided monthly income to employees upon their retirement. In 2018, only 13% of workers had access to a pension plan.
“The current climate leaves many millennials financially unstable, [but] millennials do have some advantages over previous generations,” said Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers’ co-founder and CEO, in a news release. “Advances in technology have made it easier to open an investment account, while a proliferation of index funds allows an individual to earn market returns without significant transaction costs. Additionally, online resources are available in abundance, offering free personal finance advice, including how to save and invest for the future.”
Gyutae Park and Andrew Schrage co-founded Money Crashers in 2009. The company is headquartered in Henderson, Nev.