Young
Australians today face the prospect of being the first generation in
living memory to be worse off than their parents, the Grattan
Institute warns in its Generation
Gap report.
Poorer
young Australians have seen a downward trend in their wealth.
Rising
house prices, high debt, stagnant wages and under-employment all
threaten young people’s ability to progress as much as their
parents did. The report dismisses the stereotype of a millennial
financial hedonism, finding that young people today are spending less
on non-essential items than in the past.
“...younger
households have made barely any gains compared to a household of the
same age 12 years ago,” the report says.
“If
low wage growth and fewer working hours is the new normal in
Australia, then we could have a generation emerge from young
adulthood with lower incomes than the one before it at the same age,”
Grattan Institute’s Danielle Wood warns. Such is already the case
in the US and UK.
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