Millenials are much more impoverished than their parents, and not entirely due to frivolous spending, as many are saddled with crushing debts that will likely never be able to be paid entirely, and in combination with declining wages, rising expenses, and job instability that as affected the entire country, it is a trend for long-term concern with regard to the state of the nation.
This sharp reality was reflected in a recent study which found that sixty percent of Millennials do not have even five hundred dollars saved up:
Almost ten years after the Great Recession ended, a new survey reveals millennials have no savings amid rising probabilities of an imminent recession.
Banking company Varo Money found that six out of ten millennials don’t have $500 to cover their rent or food expenses, in the event they lose their jobs in the next downturn. That percentage is slightly higher for millennial women, 65% of whom don’t have any savings at all. Suggesting when the next economic downturn strikes, these youngsters will have no financial cushion – could send them back to their parents’ basement.
When it comes to saving for the rest of the deadbeat nation, the picture is equally worse.
Five out of ten respondents said they didn’t have $500 saved. The survey determined that men are more inclined to save than women (56% of men vs. 39% of women).
About 45% of all respondents said they don’t have a savings account. Among those who have a savings account, 30% said they couldn’t correctly define what Annual Percentage Yield (APY) means. Of those who could define APY, the majority (56%) said they are getting less than 1.00%.
Fifty-six percent of all respondents said their financial situation is much worse than their parents at the same age. Living life is more important than financial wellbeing for 41% of respondents, followed by 35% who believe saving for an experience was more important than a savings account. Only 24% believe that saving for retirement is essential.
Varo Money surveyed 1,200 adults in December 2018 during the bear market in stocks.
With millions of millennials and a large swath of Americans mostly unprepared for the next recession. The next downturn will be one for the record books – will continue the slide in living standards for the bottom 90% of Americans. (source, source)