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posted by martyb on Wednesday September 29 2021, @05:50AM   Printer-friendly
from the what's-in-your-wallet? dept.

70% of Millennials Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck: Survey:

Millennials' wallets are rather skimpy.

Seventy percent of the generation said they're living paycheck to paycheck, according to a survey by PYMNTS and LendingClub, which analyzed economic data and census-balanced surveys of over 28,000 Americans. It found that about 54% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, but millennials had the biggest broke energy.

By contrast, 40% of baby boomers and seniors said they live paycheck to paycheck, the least of any generation. Living paycheck to paycheck reflects economic needs and wants just as much, if not more than, incomes or wealth levels, according to the report. Age and family status also factor in greatly. This explains why millennials, who turn ages 25 to 40 this year, are struggling.

[...] It doesn't help that millennials have faced one economic challenge after another since the oldest of them graduated into the dismal job market of the 2008 financial crisis. A dozen years later, many are still grappling with the lingering effects of The Great Recession, struggling to build wealth while trying to afford soaring costs for things like housing and healthcare and shouldering the lion's share of America's student-loan debt.

The pandemic threw yet another wrench into their plans by giving them their second recession and second housing crisis before the age of 40. The report acknowledges that the pandemic played a major role in that stretched thin feeling.

[...] It seems, then, that it's a combination of external economic circumstances, a precarious life stage, and some spending habits that are leaving millennials feeling strapped for cash.


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  • (Score: 2) by sjames on Wednesday September 29 2021, @05:26PM (1 child)

    by sjames (2882) on Wednesday September 29 2021, @05:26PM (#1182834) Journal

    When the boomers were at the same age, some had a house (doable on a single income), decentish car, etc. Others were just realizing that their dream of a happy hippy commune weren't really shaping up very well. The big difference is that for them it wasn't too late to finish school, get a job, and start on that house. It was actually possible to pay for a good school with a starter job and graduate debt free. The oil embargo and the economic doldrums of the '70s were still a few years away. Companies still offered stable employment and a pension plan. You could still get medical care uninsured without taking out a 3rd mortgage.

    There is some reason to believe that the big problem now is that there isn't much if any margin for financial error or a run of bad luck these days and most people have one or the other, especially as young adults.

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  • (Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Friday October 01 2021, @10:17PM

    by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Friday October 01 2021, @10:17PM (#1183497)

    You might also add that back then the government offered "National Direct Student Loans" at 3% interest, rather than the "free market" loans today at significantly higher costs. Combine that with much lower tuitions to begin with, and even students who borrowed heavily could pay off their debt fairly quickly.