The incomes of young people (and middle aged people) have dropped since 2000:
The incomes of the young and middle-aged — especially men — have fallen off a cliff since 2000, leaving many age groups poorer than they were even in the 1970s, a USA TODAY analysis of new Census data found.
People 54 or younger are losing ground financially at an unprecedented rate in this recession, widening a gap between young and old that had been expanding for years.
While the young have lost ground, older people have grown more prosperous over the years and the decades. Older women have done best of all.
The dividing line between those getting richer or poorer: the year 1955. If you were born before that, you’re part of a generation enjoying a four-decade run of historic income growth. Every generation after that is now sinking economically.
It’s likely to stay that way for a number of reasons. The first reason is that people over 54 have seen their worth, measured in terms of the values of their homes, their IRA’s, and their stock portfolios, drop sharply over the last 10 years. A prosperous retirement is looking like an increasingly remote likelihood.
The second reason is uncertainty. We’re in a period of uncertainty about the economy that is likely to endure for some time. Nobody really knows what’s going to happen, where growth will come, when growth will come, or even whether they’ll have a job tomorrow. The White House is actually fomenting the uncertainty with its willingness to delegate leadership to the Congress. Politically prudent or no, given that the Congress’s approval ratings are low, that preserves uncertainty rather than assuaging it. Sweeping reforms in banking, finance, healthcare, and energy, however necessary, add to the uncertainty.
The third reason is good health. The Baby Boomers may not be as healthy on average as their parents but they’re still not doddering ancients at 70.
Another reason is seniority. That’s important in lots of jobs.
Add all of those together and I think we’re likely to see the Baby Boomers holding on to the jobs they have for dear life for a long, long time. In an economy that isn’t creating jobs that doesn’t bode well for the younger generations.
Tell me about it. Although we should be grateful that the Boomers are still working, considering the impact the lot of them will have when they finally end up retiring and soaking up the various entitlement programs available to them.