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The Almighty Buck United States

Fed Says Millennials Are Just Like Their Parents. Only Poorer (bloomberg.com) 344

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
Millennials, long presumed to have less interest in the nonstop consumption of goods that underpins the American economy, might not be that different after all, a new study from the Federal Reserve says. From a report: Their spending habits are a lot like the generations that came before them, they just have less money at this point in their lives, the Fed study found. The group born between 1981 and 1997 has fallen behind because many of them came of age during the financial crisis. "We find little evidence that millennial households have tastes and preference for consumption that are lower than those of earlier generations, once the effects of age, income, and a wide range of demographic characteristics are taken into account," wrote authors Christopher Kurz, Geng Li and Daniel J. Vine.

Their findings [PDF] are grounded in an analysis of spending, income, debt, net worth, and demographic factors among different generations. The conclusion that millennials aren't all that different also holds for the researchers' more granular examination of expenditures on cars, food, and housing. "It primarily is the differences in average age and then differences in average income that explain a large and important portion of the consumption wedge between millennials and other cohorts," they conclude. So much for the young folks favoring "experiences" over tangible goods.
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Fed Says Millennials Are Just Like Their Parents. Only Poorer More

Fed Says Millennials Are Just Like Their Parents. Only Poorer

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  • Good. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 29, 2018 @12:11PM (#57720512)

    The reason they have less is simple, we have more.

    And we like it that way.

    --The Top

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      And we like it that way. --The Top

      And legally bribe Congress to keep it that way, thanks to the partisan Citizens United ruling.

      • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

        by lgw ( 121541 )

        And legally bribe Congress to keep it that way, thanks to the partisan Citizens United ruling.

        Urban legend. Citizens United was a bunch of guys who pooled their money to show a film critical of Hillary Clinton (if you've ever wondered why she opposes Citizens United). The SCOTUS ruled that a closely-held corporation was the same as a partnership, and thus the rights of members are preserved.

        It said nothing about "corporations are people", nor did it apply to corporations in general.

        The interesting question is: should the Washington Post be allowed to run a full-page story attacking Trump? Should

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by clodney ( 778910 )

          I'd say "no public corporation can engage in politics" and make it that simple. The NYT would need to go private, but it could. And would anyone miss Fox or CNN?

          So no professionally produced advertisements either, since the ad agencies are mostly public corporations. And no rallies held in a venue owned by a corporation, and no catering of food at campaign events if the caterer is a public corporation. Can a candidate fly on a plane to get to a campaign event?

          I think you idea has some problems.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by lgw ( 121541 )

            Well, you're taking it a bit far. No "donations in kind" to be sure, but it comes down to platform vs publishers. Platforms that don't exercise any sort of editorial discretion are fine. If you look at the rule that applies to radio: they must accept ads for all sides in a political race; they're not allowed to be choosy. I think that's a great approach.

            So, can a candidate fly on an airline to an event? Only if he buys a ticket. The airline can't fly him for free (unless they fly all candidates for fr

  • BULLSHIT !! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 29, 2018 @12:19PM (#57720564)

    They have fallen behind government decided to balance the budget on their backs.
    School loans have destroyed the future for a generation and everyone knows it.

  • Materialism isn't the issue (Score:4, Insightful)

    by cyberchondriac ( 456626 ) on Thursday November 29, 2018 @12:25PM (#57720596) Journal

    When did being a millennial get equated to materialism per se? I thought the trope had more do with growing up as latch-key kids, and being taught hard to feel special, entitled, and enabled by over-compensating or guilt-ridden parents, teachers, and the participation trophy mindset.

    • Its not. People do not want to say that materialism is one of the major things (along with the Fed Gov, Democrats, Republican, and cable news [They want veiw to sell ads. They appear to care less about reporting accurately]) fucking this country over.
      Not buying stuff. That is unamerican.

      (Says the guy that cannot stop buying stupid shit on Amazon.)

    • When did being a millennial get equated to materialism per se?

      If I recall, it began with car manufacturers complaining that millennials don't buy cars. [fastcompany.com] Then realtors complained about the same thing. Millennials don't buy homes.

      Turns out they were just poor. Now that the economy has picked up, the trends have returned to normal. [cnbc.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      To an extent it's always been the case, due to inflation making stuff look expensive to older people and of course all the new stuff not existing when they were kids. But now we also have credit based consumerism, the high cost of living and of property distorting everything too.

      That's why you get nonsense about how if they only stopped eating avocados and buying phones they could afford a house.

  • Sorry, I didn't know this wasn't common knowledge (Score:4, Informative)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Thursday November 29, 2018 @12:27PM (#57720608)

    Else I'd have said something. Yes, the only reason millennials don't participate in the good ol' "shop 'til you drop" game is that they can't afford the fee. And this is the only reason they don't buy your crap and don't drive the economy. If you want people to buy your stuff, you need people who have the money to buy your stuff.

    • While this may seem like an obvious conclusion. Many studies and news articles have reached different conclusions. [usnews.com]

      Personally, I think most of the complaining about millennials to just be old people becoming out of touch, as they always do. [bbc.com]

      • Re:Sorry, I didn't know this wasn't common knowled (Score:5, Insightful)

        by NormalVisual ( 565491 ) on Thursday November 29, 2018 @01:07PM (#57720820)

        I think you might have a point there - I'm not sure where all the disparagement towards millenials is coming from. I'm in my 50s, and I work with plenty of interns and new grads in an engineering setting. My experience has been that most of them actually make an effort and bust their ass to get the job done, and are much more aware of needing to plan for the future than my generation was. Yeah, culturally there are differences and sometimes generational gaps in experiences, but I can't see any real reason to dogpile on them just for that.

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          I think you might have a point there - I'm not sure where all the disparagement towards millenials is coming from. I'm in my 50s, and I work with plenty of interns and new grads in an engineering setting. My experience has been that most of them actually make an effort and bust their ass to get the job done, and are much more aware of needing to plan for the future than my generation was. Yeah, culturally there are differences and sometimes generational gaps in experiences, but I can't see any real reason t

        • I'm not sure where all the disparagement towards millenials is coming from.

          IMO, it's a combination of older people always having "these kids today" complaints, and the Boomers losing power for the first time in their lives.

    • Indeed, it's pretty simple. It's just too bad that we'll have to keep trying supply-side economics until it either shows some signs of working for the first time ever, or the economy sucks itself in like the house at the end of Poltergeist.

    • If you want people to buy your stuff, you need people who have the money to buy your stuff.

      But...but....then I couldn't buy by 8th mansion!!! You don't expect me to get by on only 7, do you? That is so selfish of you!!

  • Especially when Jeff Bezos has $150,000,000,000 of worth.

  • First, I think, most people have no idea what the definition of millennial even is.
    and second, they think the extreme loudmouths the media likes to amuse us with constitute a representative sample.

    Once you're beyond that, I think nothing about millennials remains outside tbw norm and what we've seen in everey other generation.

    • Pretty much. The millennial stereotype would have you believe that they're entitled brats with an outsized sense of self-worth and an unwillingness to work hard. As it turns out, most of these sorts of traits are measurable and have been tracked by researchers across a representative sample of the American population for decades, allowing researchers to see whether or not those claims have any merit.

      By all accounts, they don't.

      Since about the 1940s, most of those sorts of traits have only shifted by, at mos

      • 'They' say: 'There are no wrong answers to personality tests'.

        That's true, unless you want the job, then there are definite 'right answers': High on conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness, low on neuroticism, middle on extroversion (unless marketer).

        Cynics that lie on personality tests are now identified as 'role models' by social 'scientists'.

        I'd expect the percentage of 'role models' in each generation to be higher than the previous (at the same age).

  • We aren't poor (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Nidi62 ( 1525137 ) on Thursday November 29, 2018 @12:42PM (#57720700)

    The group born between 1981 and 1997 has fallen behind because many of them came of age during the financial crisis.

    We aren't poor. We've just seen what happens when the financial markets collapse and don't see the need to be leveraged out the ass with 2 car notes, a second mortgage (for those of us who were even lucky enough to find housing while it was still actually reasonably priced), and paying off 3 credit cards. We're spending less than we have so we aren't completely screwed come the next bust cycle. We'd love to be able to spend money, but we remember being un- or under-employed and how much that sucked while the Boomers with guaranteed pensions and social security (both being paid for by us with us likely to see no benefit or payout ourselves) trying to grab more and more.

    Besides, any extra money we would have to spend on consumer goods that our parents bought with credit card debt is most likely wrapped up in another type of debt: student loans. The bonuses I've gotten from my company the last few years, instead of helping the local economy by being spent on house repairs/upgrades has gone towards paying off student loans. And this years'll be no different.

    • All of these studies trying to figure out millennials. No one thought to ask one why they do the things they do?

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

        All of these studies trying to figure out millennials. No one thought to ask one why they do the things they do?

        Maybe they think we are too busy rolling the points of our old-fashioned mustaches with the grease from our avocado toast to answer a survey?

    • What? That makes no sense. Being "poor" is not "how much you spend". No wonder Millenials are poor if they think like that.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

        What? That makes no sense. Being "poor" is not "how much you spend". No wonder Millenials are poor if they think like that.

        Correct. Being poor is "not having money" not "not spending money". But the only way for other people to know you have money is to spend it. If you don't spend it, people assume you don't have it. American society is built upon conspicuous consumption. My argument is that a lot of people of my generation have decided not to play that game. Take the way I dress or the car my wife used to drive but still owns (a 2001 BMW 330i, we replaced it this year with a used 2011 X3 that cost less than my 14 Ford Fo

        • How long have you had those BMWs? Expensive cars are never cheap, especially when old. Enjoy your $1000 brake jobs.

          You are right, it isn't what you make, it's what you keep. But old German cars (but not old enough to be collectable) aren't a good plan outside Germany.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

            How long have you had those BMWs? Expensive cars are never cheap, especially when old. Enjoy your $1000 brake jobs.

            You are right, it isn't what you make, it's what you keep. But old German cars (but not old enough to be collectable) aren't a good plan outside Germany.

            The 01 was the only car my wife had had up until this summer. At worst we would spend a couple hundred in repairs each year, still cheaper than a car note. The 2011 only had 70k miles on it, should last another decade or so as well.

    • The group born between 1981 and 1997 has fallen behind because many of them came of age during the financial crisis.

      We aren't poor. We've just seen what happens when the financial markets collapse and don't see the need to be leveraged out the ass with 2 car notes, a second mortgage (for those of us who were even lucky enough to find housing while it was still actually reasonably priced), and paying off 3 credit cards. We're spending less than we have so we aren't completely screwed come the next bust cycle. We'd love to be able to spend money, but we remember being un- or under-employed and how much that sucked while the Boomers with guaranteed pensions and social security (both being paid for by us with us likely to see no benefit or payout ourselves) trying to grab more and more.

      Besides, any extra money we would have to spend on consumer goods that our parents bought with credit card debt is most likely wrapped up in another type of debt: student loans. The bonuses I've gotten from my company the last few years, instead of helping the local economy by being spent on house repairs/upgrades has gone towards paying off student loans. And this years'll be no different.

      You do know that college costs have soared because of subsidies and guaranteed student loans, right? So it's the "we have to help people go to college" crowd who are responsible for the soaring costs.

      Meanwhile, anybody who even suggests doing something actually useful economically, like say limiting competition from cheap foreign workers, gets shouted down.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

        You do know that college costs have soared because of subsidies and guaranteed student loans, right? So it's the "we have to help people go to college" crowd who are responsible for the soaring costs.

        Yes, I do. That is why I am a big proponent of a more European style educational system. I am fully aware that plenty of people either don't want to or don't need to go to college, yet they have been pushed to do so, often by colleges themselves who want the free federal/bank money. Break it off, don't send everyone to college, and these colleges will have to start cutting back on the ridiculous amenities and massive administrative overhead to cut costs and reduce tuition prices. Makes for more manageabl

        • The Club med amenities are sunk costs. It's not over until many fancy schools are broke, then they can start rebuilding.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I'd tend to agree, partially. Wages for younger people are lower than for their parents, and tuition costs are higher. So there some more restrictions on spending. But parent is definitely right about the certainty factor.

      In my early and mid-20s I lived through two financial drops (2001 and 2008), and those sucked. I was either under- or un-employed for a couple years both times. So now, even though I make a pretty high wage for the area in which I live, my life style is pretty low-key. I shop like I make

    • Smart strategy. I'm not convinced the entire generation acts for the same reason, but I'm sure a significant number do if they were old enough to be paying attention in 2008. I just wonder what will happen when the Baby Boomers decide to use their outsized voting habits to say, raid the 401k and IRA accounts of the Millenial generation in their 30's or 40's. After all, grandma shouldn't have to eat cat food right? So, now that you are done paying off that student loan let ol' Uncle Sam have a swing at whate

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DarkOx ( 621550 )

        I just wonder what will happen when the Baby Boomers decide to use their outsized voting habits to say, raid the 401k and IRA accounts of the Millenial generation in their 30's or 40's.

        They will do so successfully because enough of the folks in their 30's and 40's will buy into the idea that grandma should not have to eat cat food despite the 3 summers backing around Europe in her 20s and annual vacation cruise she took while her grandparents minded their parents. All things said Millenials will never have had the opportunity to do.

        Here is the thing though. I don't what advice to give them; I am just prior to that generation myself and I have done okay and I concerned about exactly what

    • You are wise, but what 'society' will do to repay you for your forward-looking wisdom, is to continue to chastise you for not making your personal finances a negative-sum game, spending more than you have, because some people in this country want you to be beholden to them. So be prepared for being demonized, with accusations of 'not supporting economic growth', and maybe even 'being selfish'.
    • you're just temporarily inconvenienced millionaires, right?

      The boomers didn't have Credit Cards coming out their ears either. They didn't need them.

      Next, You're probably going to trot out statistics on bigger homes. Fair enough, but we live in America. Land is cheap. Building homes is cheap. The only thing that isn't cheap is infrastructure (roads, water lines, sewer lines, electric lines, etc, etc). The boomers got that for free. GenX (my Gen) got the tail end of that. Millenials got shafted. If you

  • In other words... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by fibonacci8 ( 260615 ) on Thursday November 29, 2018 @12:49PM (#57720736)

    Millenials aren't actually lazy, they're getting paid stagnant rates and the money supply has increased. Inflation happens and spending power has gone down as a result. The same or greater productivity is expected and "kids these days" aren't the ones seeing the benefit of it.

    This isn't even news. Gone are the days when a part time summer job is enough for that year's college tuition. A part time job might barely cover rent any more. And you can forget about having a savings account without at least one full time job and a part time job on the side.

    Employers are offering fewer and fewer long term incentives, which results in lower employee loyalty in return.

    It's not a mystery, it's not a secret. It's the economy, stupid.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by bigpat ( 158134 )

      Agree with some of that, but inflation is actually pretty low and I don't think the increase in the money supply has been keeping up with our trade deficits. The Fed has been keeping the dollar strong when we would really need a weak dollar and more money in our economy widely distributed. When a lot of that "money" is concentrated or overseas or coming back into the US economy in investments that will eventually return profits back overseas or into the hands of a small elite. Raising some costs like hou

    • Completely agree. They aren't lazy at all. The numbers I've read show that they're harder working and smarter than previous generations. They use less drugs too.

      And there's other angles to the story as well. With the exception of a few top performers, most millennials won't make it into better paying positions until the older generation gets too decrepit to work and has no choice but to relinquish the wheel. And when they finally do make good pay, they will discover that the entire system has been desi
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • We've "taken into account" and "controlled for" these dozens of factors. After we make everything the same, lo and behold, the new generation is the same as the old.

    Shock of a lifetime!

    "Average age, average income, and a wide range of demographics" -- are drastically different.

    So answer the question the way it's asked. If I walk up to a random twenty-year old this afternoon, will he buy things like I did when I was twenty, or not?

    Of course if he's impoverished, he won't. Of course if he's dead he won't. O

  • OK (Score:3, Interesting)

    by cascadingstylesheet ( 140919 ) on Thursday November 29, 2018 @01:23PM (#57720910) Journal

    OK, so what do you propose doing about it?

    Well, for one thing, pretty sure that bringing in countless foreigners to compete for jobs isn't going to help, but what do I know.

    It's unpopular to say that, so not enough of us do say it. But popularity doesn't seem to be taking care of the problem.

    • Immigration is good at the macro level but not so much at certain micro levels. The way to fix that is income redistribution, but that's not something we generally want in this country for any number of reasons. So we have the continuous tension between "immigration benefits the country" and "immigration makes it hard for me to get a better job".

  • isn't it obvious (Score:4, Insightful)

    by eaglesrule ( 4607947 ) <eaglesrule.pm@me> on Thursday November 29, 2018 @01:52PM (#57721154)
    2000 dot com bubble

    2008 great recession
    crushing student debt
    'gig' economy and decades of union busting
    Future insolvency of social security
    High rent and housing costs
    Medical costs primary cause of bankruptcy

    I wonder why millennials and gen-x have less money to spend, and those who do have some aren't spending as much.

    Perhaps more are concerned about survival, than frivolously wasting money on consumer products that are engineered to be disposable and non serviceable. Perhaps seeing our parents struggle with credit card debt also had an effect.

  • Nobody ever said you need to own a house to get married.

    Nobody ever said you need $20,000 to get married.

    A basic wedding can be done for around $300. Today.

    Stop believing the marketroids. Even the ring is optional. Have a park picnic wedding, it's fun!

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