The Growing Generational Wealth Gap

Economics Explained

The long-suffering generation of millennials are now set to be significantly poorer than both baby boomers and Gen X'ers.

Having entered the workforce during the fallout of the 2008 mortgage crisis and then being hit particularly hard during this current crisis has meant that today millennials only account for 3% of national wealth, where boomers at the same point in their lives accounted for 27%.

This trend is more than just another pity party for our fellow latte-sipping millennials. On a wider level, the share of wealth owned by people under the age of 40 has shrunk from 13% to just under 7% over the past 3 decades.

Even if we ignore the social issues of younger families having to make do with half that of what their parents did this can have some serious

Therefore if this trend continues businesses around the world might start to lose out on their Goldilocks zone of consumer spending.

• What is causing this downward pressure on wealth in younger generations?
• What will this mean for the future growth of nations like the USA?
• And could this just be a waiting game of wealth, inevitably getting passed down?

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