The Student Room Group

Millennials earn 20% less than Boomers did at same stage of life

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Original post by Ladbants
Liberals love to complain about stuff like this but they don't actually have a solution that doesn't involve forcing companies to pay more and reduce profits, or building millions of council houses.
The fact is you can still earn more than these 'boomers' if you work hard enough and get into the right jobs. The opportunities are better now than ever before, with new industries like data science and software engineering opening up new lucrative career possibilities. As well as this, everyone has the chance to go to university and improve their skillset. Don't kid yourself- things are much better for us than they were for the baby boomers.


Just no.


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Original post by richpanda
Incredible sense of entitlement. So because someone born in the early 90s goes to university, gets a 2.2 in sociology, they deserve a high paying job and enough for a deposit on a house?

Just lol.


Ikr how entitled of people to expect they could lead an adult life after finishing education, just utter madness.

You're either really stupid or a very bad troll... then again the two go hand in hand so.


89k in today's money to buy the average house in 1996.

And that was after house price inflation!


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Original post by Ladbants

The fact is you can still earn more than these 'boomers' if you work hard enough and get into the right jobs. The opportunities are better now than ever before, with new industries like data science and software engineering opening up new lucrative career possibilities. As well as this, everyone has the chance to go to university and improve their skillset. Don't kid yourself- things are much better for us than they were for the baby boomers.


Specialist industries that require a specific skill set only a minority have? Excellent, that'll sort everybody out.
Ah, so the same lefties who encourage immigration, who want refugees in our country, suddenly wonder why house prices have gone up and job seeking has become more competitive?
Original post by Retired_Messiah
Specialist industries that require a specific skill set only a minority have? Excellent, that'll sort everybody out.


Well, people can learn these skill sets. And there are other jobs as well.


Are you actually trying to say that these boomers had it easier than us? The UK is a better place to live now than ever before. These boomers didn't even have the internet, computers, proper telephones, colour TV, equality laws, NHS as it is today, university education for everyone (not just the privileged), modern technology and pretty much everything we take for granted. Britain is a great place to live in and has opportunities for everyone, more than ever before.
Original post by Ladbants
Are you actually trying to say that these boomers had it easier than us? The UK is a better place to live now than ever before. These boomers didn't even have the internet, computers, proper telephones, colour TV, equality laws, NHS as it is today, university education for everyone (not just the privileged), modern technology and pretty much everything we take for granted. Britain is a great place to live in and has opportunities for everyone, more than ever before.


I'd trade everything I have now if I could walk into an office/plant job by simply going in and talking to the person while also earning a decent wage and being able to afford a house and to have children like the baby boomers did.

I'd ****ing trade everything I currently have for that. Heck take away and arm and a leg if you want and I'd still trade it.
Crap job and housing market. Due to inflation we're a lot poorer today, even though we don't look it.

In previous generations you could get good jobs without a uni degree, didn't need 3 years of paperwork, there was a demand for them. Today, too many people, too little jobs. Need a way to filter. Education has filled this gap, but done so very poorly.

The housing market is an absolute joke.
"People who have been working for fewer years and started their careers in the worst economic downturn for nearly a century on average earn less than their older counterparts who started work at a younger age during a boom period did at the same age"
"With a median household income of $40,581, millennials earn 20 percent less than boomers did at the same stage of life "

...And there's your answer.


You also have to take into consideration other factors such as most boomers not entering higher education, working sooner than millennials, etc...
Original post by Mathemagicien
Depends how you think of "easier". Sure, things are better, if you have no plans to own a house, or support a family, before you are old and grey.

But many people value those last two things quite a bit.

You are just saying that there is a wider variety of products out there - which is true, but the point is that the necessities are more out of reach for young people than ever before.


What he said


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Original post by TheExtrovertGod
Crap job and housing market. Due to inflation we're a lot poorer today, even though we don't look it.

In previous generations you could get good jobs without a uni degree, didn't need 3 years of paperwork, there was a demand for them. Today, too many people, too little jobs. Need a way to filter. Education has filled this gap, but done so very poorly.

The housing market is an absolute joke.


A good way to look at this or a good indicator of this is to ask how many people still live with their parents above the age of 18? I'm willing to bet theres more millennials than boomers at respective ages. Also check how many could afford houses between the two as well.
Original post by Mathemagicien
20% less. While real wages have dropped by 'only' 10% since the recession. You are also ignoring the fact that inflation decreased significantly during the recession, and remains subdued, which improves the figures a lot, since for example house prices become a little more reasonable.

Besides, wouldn't you hope for some significant wage growth in the decades between the boomers and the millenials?


It's worth noting real wage growth has been a lot higher in the UK than US, and that despite this all the data that I can find shows strong real wage growth over the last few decades, despite the 5 years of decline


Original post by Maker
Boomers usually started work at 16 or 18 and mostly lived at home and did not have any university debts. If Millenials had done the same, they would probably be in the same position as boomers.


Yet it's impossible to get a job even with a degree, never mind without one.
In 1960 the global population was 3 billion, today it is over 7 billion...

Is this not just supply and demand?
I simply refuse to accept the claims being made, with the exception of house prices which are inflated due to an absurdly high population we have experienced deflation in real terms which is why even the poorest of people in the West are able to doss around with smartphones, mobile internet and abuse drugs rather than working 14 hour days down mine shafts.

I think this is a good thing, I do not actually want to bring back the bad old days, but I think there is a significant problem with people thinking their lives are far harder than they truly are.
Original post by l'etranger
I simply refuse to accept the claims being made, with the exception of house prices which are inflated due to an absurdly high population we have experienced deflation in real terms which is why even the poorest of people in the West are able to doss around with smartphones, mobile internet and abuse drugs rather than working 14 hour days down mine shafts.

I think this is a good thing, I do not actually want to bring back the bad old days, but I think there is a significant problem with people thinking their lives are far harder than they truly are.


There is some truth to that, the debate about whether a generation has it worse than another depends greately on one's point of view...

The 'Housing Crisis' is also essentially non-existent outside of London/The South East. One of the many reasons I will never go back there. Seperating a sense of entitlement from the facts is not easy with the media.
Original post by Kernel_Coder
There is some truth to that, the debate about whether a generation has it worse than another depends greately on one's point of view...

The 'Housing Crisis' is also essentially non-existent outside of London/The South East. One of the many reasons I will never go back there. Seperating a sense of entitlement from the facts is not easy with the media.


A decent 3 bed house aka a family home starts at 350k where I live in the midlands


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