As American 30-somethings increasingly bypass the traditional milestones of adulthood, economists are warning that what seemed like a lag may in fact be a permanent state of arrested development.
One issue in this article that is interesting is how well young people today are doing economically compared to past generations. A related post from last October is A comparison of the inflation rates, unemployment rates and poverty rates from 1975-83 with the current rates. Things were alot worse back then.
Excerpts from The WSJ article:
"It’s true that 30-somethings have had a run of tough economic luck. Many of them entered the job market during the Great Recession, rode out the pandemic by moving back in with their parents, and are now dealing with the worst housing market in 40 years. But the numbers paint a more complicated picture."
"Median wages for full-time workers ages 35 to 44 are up 16% between 2000 and 2024, from $58,522 to $67,652 adjusted for inflation"
"The overall wealth of 30-somethings, too, rose 66% between 1989 and 2022"
"Only 21% of adults in their 30s rated the overall economy as good or excellent last year"
"Younger adults are far less likely than Americans over 50 to say achieving the American Dream of success from hard work is still a possibility, according to a Wall Street Journal/NORC poll in July."
"“Our expectations are so much higher today,” says Melissa Kearney, an economist at the University of Maryland whose research focuses on children and family. “Generations before us didn’t expect to have large houses where every kid had a bedroom and there were multiple vacations.”"
"some of the traditional goals of adulthood really have become more difficult to achieve. Student debt has more than doubled over the past two decades, yet a college degree is no guarantee of a well-paying job. Rising interest rates and dwindling supply have also put homeownership out of reach for a growing share of Americans. The median age of first-time homebuyers hit a record high of 38 this year, according to the National Association of Realtors, up from 35 in 2023 and 29 in 1981."
"Stymied by this mix of high expectations and challenging economic circumstances, many 30-somethings sound disoriented and unsure about what it means to be a successful adult now."
"Just over half of Americans between the ages of 30 and 40 were married as of last year"
"This is down from more than two thirds in 1990"
"The share of women in this age range who had ever given birth fell 7 percentage points between 2012 and 2022 alone, Current Population Survey data show, from 78% to 71%."
"“Part of this is social expectations, part of this is shifting priorities and part of this is economic realities,” says Kearney at the University of Maryland, who has looked at how the same dynamic is playing out in high-income countries around the world. “But all together they seem to be pushing in the same direction, which is increased rates of staying single and staying childless.”"
"Nearly 9% of those aged 30 to 40 still live with their parents, according to Pardue’s analysis of Census data, up from nearly 6% in 1990."
Other related posts:
The White-Collar Hiring Rut Is Here. That’s Bad News for Young College Grads. (2024)
The Class of 2023 Faces a Jittery Job Market: ‘The World Seems to Have Flipped on Its Head.’ (2023)
The Class of 2020 Looks for Work (2020)
Historically, college students who graduate into a recession have settled for lower-paying jobs at less prestigious companies (2020)
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