Salary Explosion for Generation X, Implosion for Millennials

The income growth in generations born between 1966 and 1980 has not continued in subsequent generations, Bloomberg reports, interpreting a report published on Monday that analyzes how, after the salary increase during Generation X, a disappointing trend of decline followed for millennials.

In an analysis of eight countries with high incomes, the Resolution Foundation found that millennials in their early 30s have 4 percent lower household incomes than the average of the so-called Generation X at the same age.

The largest discrepancies are recorded in Spain and the United Kingdom, where Generation X achieved as much as 54 percent better incomes than baby boomers born between 1946 and 1965. On the other hand, millennials, born between 1980 and 2000, achieved only 6 percent higher incomes than Generation X in their thirties. In the UK, there is also a significant decline in the homeownership rate. Almost half as many millennials (33 percent) in their late twenties owned their apartment or house, while this was achieved by 60 percent of baby boomers.

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– It is no secret that the financial crisis hit wealthy economies hard and halted income growth for millennials worldwide. Only in Spain can echoes of the UK experience be found, where the cycle of boom and bust is clearly visible and benefits older generations, said Daniel Tomlinson, an analyst at the Resolution Foundation.

Adjusted for inflation, the salaries of British millennials have fallen by 13 percent, a decline surpassed only by Greece, think tanks estimate.

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According to their analysis, generations in the US and Germany have not achieved significant differences in income. The average earnings of Americans approaching fifty are not higher among those born in the late 60s than among those born in the 20s. However, Norway and Denmark have progressed slightly more despite the fact that the recession crisis in Denmark was comparable to that in the United Kingdom.