E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
U.S. Census Bureau
Between 2005 and 2010, Generation X saw the biggest percent decline in median household net worth.
Almost everyone in America has good reason to throw a little pity party whenever they think about what the economic turmoil of recent years has done to their financial situation. A government report released Monday finds that the 35- to 44-year-old members of Generation X may have the most cause to feel sorry for themselves.
The Census Bureau study found that between 2005 and 2010, households led by 35- to 44-year-olds saw the biggest percent decline in median household net worth. For those households, median net worth declined 59 percent, from $80,521 in 2005 to $33,200 in 2010, adjusted in constant 2010 dollars.
In terms of actual dollars lost, 45- to 54-year-olds took the biggest hit. For households in that age range, median net worth declined by $54,881, to $90,434. That’s a 38 percent drop from 2005, calculated in 2010 dollars.
Overall, the study found that median household net worth in the United States declined by 35 percent between 2005 and 2010, to $66,740. The housing bust and stock market declines were mainly to blame for the drop.
The Census report is based on the annual Survey of Income and Program Participation, which takes a detailed look at the financial situation of Americans from all walks of life. The survey uses the renter or owner of record in each household to determine what age group the household falls into.
The Census data comes a week after the Federal Reserve released a separate survey showing that the median net worth of the American family dropped 39 percent from about $126,000 in 2007 to $77,000 in 2010.
The Census study looks at a slightly longer period and offers detailed breakdown by race, age, education level and region. But the two studies come to the same sobering conclusion: We’ve lost a lot of economic ground in recent years, and it will take a long time to work our way back.
Leave a Comment:
I noticed that in China - that developing nation - they have the second best life expectancy of all at about 82. So they live about 3 years longer than us --- interestingly the men retire at 60, not 62 or 65 or 6 or 7 and certainly not at 70 and the women retire at 55. So how is it they can do it and we can't ?
We have a very high murder rate compared to China. We have a much higher death by auto rate than most other nations. Both of those skew the life expectancy numbers in the U.S.
China isn't $15 trillion in debt like the US. Makes a big difference.
They eat better and aren't a bunch of fat pigs rooting around for their next greasy, salty and sugary meal that they plop down in front of the TV to eat. They also study hard in school and perform better at their jobs so they have more self esteem. It isn't about their income. It's about their lifestyle and where they put their priorities. We are too busy blaming our leaders that we elected for our sorry little existance instead of looking at how we are screwing up our own lives first. Remember when you point the finger at someone else, there are three more pointing back at you!
They're communists. Oh and notorious for skewing numbers so I'm not sure I'd trust that....after all they also claim the pollution in Beijing isn't so bad either...
And just because they live longer and retire earlier doesn't mean that the quality of their life is something I'd be happy with.
And lastly they have a culture in which it is expected that the younger generation will take care of their elders so you don't have as many old people living alone, not able to feed themselves, etc.
Don--they live longer because they eat a lot less meat. Expect those figurest on life expectancy to go down because of polution, tho.
Also, the reason they 'retire' earlier than we do is possibly tied to the fact that in MANY Asian countries it is standard for the parents, when the kids get established, to move IN with the kids , which also means they aren't competing with them for jobs.
Hell even Chinese workers get mandated vacation time. USA USA USA!
Because they live with their kids, barely eat, and don't buy a whole lot. Most Americans aren't willing to live like the Chinese. I know I don't want to.
think about just how cleaver the chinese are.first they think in terms of 1000 years.how do you beat a nuclear armed super power.in a military head to head battle everyone loses.so you come at them at their weakest point.the decedent rich.appeal to their to greed and they are easily manipulated.offer them cheap labor get them to relocate their manufacturing then threaten to nationalized the corporate assets.they know our government serves the rich.so treaties that arent in the interest of most americans get passed and as long as they do as their told they get even more...to a point.weve been beaten and most dont even know it but our increasing poverty is proof
omgwitwct11, S.-1914173,
You have been watching too many movies. Chinese eat lots of pork and chicken, some fish, not so much beef (until recently all the McDonalds openings). It is the Japanese living on an Island that do not eat much meats, and do eat lots of starch (ramen, rice) and vegetables; same obesity problem as US started after McDonalds and US Fast Food Franchises opened at Japan.
As far as us blaming our Government, that is EXACTLY were the blame for the current US Economy is:
Removal of the 1933 US Laws that made Illegal the Causes of the Current Depression, while the Chinese Government retained their version of the US Laws: http://david393071.newsvine.com/_news/2011/02/22/6107088-the-current-global-economic-crisis
"Chinagate" as mentioned during President Clinton's Impeachment by US Congress as President Clinton's Most Favored Trade Nation Status for China in order to receive (still receive) Donations from the Chinese. Cannot be proven that President Clinton as previous Governor Arkansas, Arkansas being the Headquarters for Walmart, caused the "Walmart Effect" (US Corporations switching from Made In US to Made In China).
That is called Respect and Compassion for your Parents, instead of dumping them like trash into a "Old Folks Home". How would you like it if you as a child were dumped into a "school" (ala Oliver Twist "baby farm" and "workhouse") and your parents visited at their convenience.
It is like I stated before about listening to your Elders about what they did to live (survive) that long as well as listening to the mistakes they made (that almost killed them and did kill their peers) as not to repeat their same mistakes and expect a different result.
At many Nations that I have lived at the old people are the Encyclopedia of knowledge of the Real World Life or Death School of Hard Knocks.
China is a nation that is tough for us Americans to understand,they are Communist,but not really..much like Americans are Capitalist,but not really.The Chinese government may not agree with our government and our government may not agree with theirs,but when you talk with the Chinese people at large you realize that we both are very very much alike.Chinese people like Americans and most Americans I know have no gripes about the Chinese people,we've all been around them all our lives,as have they.They are smart,intelligent with money and very caring people.I believe they have a lot to teach us about being a somewhat sane society,and are beating us at our own game,they have had a lot of experience dealing with social insanity..
Americas love rich people. So much in fact we will give them bailouts and all kinds of exceptions to the rules, because god help us all if a bank or car company goes bankrupt. We will all help pay for this, we are all poorer because we love helping the wealthy because we need them like we need the mafia around. What would happen without their 'protection?'
Not to agree with bailouts, but just to play devil's advocate for a second...imagine what would happen if those companies failed? The lost jobs, unemployment rates, etc.? Would it be a good idea to let those big companies fail that employ several thousands of middle-class workers?
Letting the companies fail would have been a good thing. I'm sure the mafia employs lots of people too.
Tito--do you REALLY think that if GM had gone into bankruptcy, one of two things would NOT have happened? Either they would have STREAMLINED their production/chosen to build more cars the AVERAGE American can afford (rather than EMPHASIZING SUV's/Trucks (with a sop thrown in for a solar car no one can buy and few can reasonably afford to USE.) to keep up with the times, OR other car manufacturers would have taken up the slack in vehicles produced? Toyota, Honda, VW etc ALL have factories in the US, hiring US workers. So instead of each taxpayer's dollar subsiding the purchase of GM's and Chrysler's cars they would have had that extra amount to buy a PRACTICAL car?
The number of potential BUYERS didn't go up in the wake of the bailouts.
What if we would have taken the billions of dollars of bailout money to large corporations, which has proven to provided little to no economic boost to our country (Mexico and China experienced a boost from it, go figure), and set it up as a trust for new small business loans, especially those people that had lost a job as a result of those companies failing? Using some funds to help those people to come up with functional business plans, management, and tax help. I kind of think we would be in a much better place in our economy right now. Some of those small businesses would fail but somehow I think that we would quite a few up and comers making a lot of profit and hiring a lot of employees. Even the smaller ones would still hire their base employees and keep many Americans in jobs. Not to mention the real estate market would've experienced a boost leasing and selling commercial properties. What is it now like $3 trillion dollars in bailouts so far with trillions more committed? That would've started a h#!! of a lot of small businesses. And lets be honest, there's nothing like the innovation and commitment of someone starting their own business.
But I guess that would've left the failing corporations shaking in their boots if they saw a wave of successful small businesses taking over their profits, and they couldn't let that happen.
alan static; it is the government , both party's, that always cater to the rich and powerful; where do you think the campaign donations come from, not the middle working class; it was the democrats that turned over our money supply to the private sector ,1913 Wilson, 1935 Roosevelt, 1965 Johnston; it was the republicans that pushed outsourcing, Regan, Bush; we have developed the worse of worse worlds.
The failure of Lehman Brothers almost brought the banking system down and you wanted to let bigger banks fail?
There was no cash flow available to restructure the auto companies without government help and if you think the other companies would pick up the slack you are mistaken. They all would have been hurt as the supply base crashed one by one (even Toyota advocated for the buy outs). Also, every other OEM has been getting subsidies from their governments for years (Japan, Germany, France - they all prop up their car companies).
You are right in that the bailouts didn't make things 'better', but they kept things from getting astronomically worse.
no proof the bailouts did anything only speculation if none had happened. Gm bailout was for the unions, stockholders got the shaft along with the creditors. I have reams of paper about my loss on the stock. When does the line get drawn...too big too fail? just sayin
I can tell you what would have happened if those companies failed. The companies would have been bought out by competitors that would have used the manufacturing facilities to make products that actaully work and cost less. The hard workers would get jobs working for the competitor who bought the company and the lazy workers would get laid off as they should have been years ago. Instead, our tax dollars continue to subsidize American made crap.
Theres knothing in the constitution about bailing out companys that sell a lousy product and need to go bankrupt.They could have negotiated new contracts with the unions.The government would be better off,(taxpayers also)if the government used some of Ron Pauls ideas and got rid of unconstitutional agencys and others that just dont perform as well as private companys would.
Congress needs term limits,they cant cut spending or use fake accounting tricks.
When elites are held in check, typically by effective legal mechanisms, everyone else in society does much better and sustained economic growth becomes possible. But powerful people - kings, barons, industrialists, bankers - work long and hard to relax the constraints on their actions. And when they succeed, the effects are not just redistribution toward themselves but also an undermining of economic growth and often a tearing at the fabric of society.
Please sign the petition to the U.S. Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committee asking for improved oversight of federal banking and market regulators.
To read more about what we’re trying to do and to sign the petition, click here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/u-s-senate-banking-and-u-s-house-financial-services-committees-use-technology-to-provide-oversight-of-u-s-banking-and-market-regulators?share_id=HTpDoOQNJgpe=d2e
It'll just take a minute!
imagine what would happen if those companies failed? The lost jobs, unemployment rates, etc.? Would it be a good idea to let those big companies fail that employ several thousands of middle-class workers?
They have us by the balls! They don't suffer consequences because we might lose our jobs.
sign a petition?oh come on.one call from a major campaign contributor is worth 1ooo petitions
Speak for yourself Satanick; I am in possession of mine! I remember when we GenX'ers were young and MTV first dubbed us GenX . . we all smoked pot and had long hair like Satanick!
Now, we are all out Occupying Wall Street .. I wonder what happened??!!
I know what happened..we started to take the us and them philosophy..pot makes ya paranoid over time :)
You know,,,we all also liked having credit cards too...I have;nt had one in almost eight years and Im fine
Just join the military, dumb dumbs!
The Gen X people have been a drain on our country for a long time. Glad to see they are getting what they deserve.
Ouch. That hurt Mark. Some of us Gen X are hard workers, believe it or not.
@Mark Taft
How do you figure that?
the military wont take you at 44 dumb dumb.
And Gen X is extraordinarily hard working over all. If anyone's a drain on the economy it's the baby boomers who are all retiring now.
MarkTaft...you MUST be a Baby Boomer. You act as if by our mere presence, we are responsible for the economy tanking. What a completely irresponsible thing for you to say when we all know BB's are the coddled, spoiled rotten generation.
Mark is a Gen X'er.
Not to point fingers, but I believe it's the retired baby boomers who are eating up all the SS funds, smoked, drank, and consumed McDonald's for most of their lives, who are now creating the health care spike we see today. Just sayin.
Shouldn't have to rely on the military dumb dumb. If you do, then there is obviously a very intentional design in the system. If you are a loser?? Join the military !
The oldest Boomers are 66 years old so very few if any Boomers are eligible for SS. Don't get discouraged. Please try again!
Well technically, isn't military pay a form of government aid? Don't get me wrong, everyone I've ever known in the military work their @$$es off but really adding more money that our government has to shell out into military expenses isn't going to help our economy get any better. Where do you think the money comes from for military pay and housing? You got it...tax dollars. If everyone who loses a job joins the military, where is the money going to come from to pay for people joining the military? Sorry, but the military costs the government more money than anything else right now. Making it larger is not going to improve the economy.
Good luck joining the military when they're reducing the number of troops they already have and shattering the careers of thousands of "lifers".
GO STEELERS- Which is exactly why none of us can hope for the stock market to make any meaningful gains for the next 15 years or so. As the BBs start to retire and withdraw from their 401Ks etc. more money will be coming out than going in.
The Silent Generation is the one relying on SS. But now that boomers are going to be joining them in ever increasing numbers each year, that is only going to get worse too.
And I agree, the people I know who grew up in the 40s and 50s are the most spoiled I've ever met, though none of them admit it. My parents, my in laws included... Wow - just wow. Gen Y looks meek and humble by comparison.
Actually, all of the Gen-X people I know are faring much better than their despicable liberal baby boomer parents. My salary is the same as pre-crash, because I learned to go for a stable job rather than go for a hot top dollar job (which usually leads to layoffs). I just bought a house TWICE the size of my last one; my first house I bought during a down market and got sweat equity, now I actually had a good down payment and stole the new castle at the bottom of the local market ("desirable" communities are already on the upswing in my state). Hippies "changed" the world, Gen-X is still struggling to pull it out of their dope induced haze.
But don't join combat arms or you may come home without one.
WalkWithMe, you do not know the Baby Boomers at all. I am a BB and my son is a Gen-Xer. I am not a liberal, was not spoiled - quite the opposite. I grew up in poverty, worked my way through school (no loans), got a high-paying job, and never did drugs. And I never protested the Viet Nam war or any other hippie cause. I am now retired and do not draw Social Security. Take your delusional beliefs elsewhere.
Interesting.. everyone said my Generation (X!) was the most spoiled generation to ever come up in America. Just because we are the ones who were subjected to the first video games, microwaves, walkmans, smaller computers, and the rise of technology. I've got news for you hecklers... Generation X is not a dumb as you think they are and we are CERTAINLY not as spoiled.
GenerationX also has more war vets than any other generation. We fought in Desert Storm I, Desert Storm II, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and we're still a fightin'. You can thank Gen X for killing UBL, taking down Saddam Hussein, and inventing Google.
Nothing wrong with joining the military. what is wrong is not obtaining the training to integrate after it is over.
I am a GenXer and l my siblings are BBs.I have been all my life,told I was a worthless piece of shyte that would never go anywhere..Well,25 years later,none of them hold a steady job,all of them drink and smoke heavily, one lives at my fathers house taking care of my 85 year old father and none of them talk with me.After all that,I have a house a son a fulltime job,my wife works and things are good.Sad to say,after all the wrecks start drawing SS,nothing will be left for us,so I say,dont get sick work hard and get rid of credit cards and do not go to McDonalds..
Limousine liberals like Dodd and Barney Frank (who really care for the poor, yes sir), and their friends forced Fannie Mae and big banks to lend to every burger flipper and jobless derelict. This caused the super-inflated real estate bubble that inevitably had to collapse. They forced unwilling banks to lend to everyone, saying this somehow prevented housing discrimination. After the bank takes peoples' houses away, how were they helped? ... by tossing them out on the street?
Dodd and Frank's insane poverty meddling wiped out my life savings: My two homes, near Atlanta and Tampa, lost all equity and became worth less than half what I paid for them in 2005. I was tossed out and forced to live with relatives.
Who do these scum politicians blame? Bush, of course. They had nothin' to do with it, they just worked here.
I'm always amazed at the thought that the big, powerful banks were "forced" to do anything. I have the impression that they rule the roost and decide what financial policy will be. I think the banks went into this eyes wide open and tried to play the system - and won. They're not hurting!
I love being part of Generation X. The Boomers make all the
money and use all the resources. Boomers had free love. We have herpes and
AIDS. Boomer got to do all the drugs they wanted. Gen Xers get the war on
drugs. There are so many Boomers retiring that Social Security may not be there
when I retire. And now Gen X has been hit the worst by the recession. (Sarcastic)
“Yeah, Gen X!”
Yeah, and get used to it. The fat, gluttonous Boomer age federal legislators are very comfortable with extreme debt. They will continue to borrow gastronomical amounts of money from foreign governments so that the present generation can thrive, passing the debt onto the next generations. So now its happening; younger people are paying our debts. And don't be envious of Gen Y for not losing as much. They will suffer our debts even more. They lost less because they have less, but unlike you Gen Xer's they will never accumulate anything to lose. They get to pay even more of our excesses.
I was an angry Republican for the longest and screamed my head off about government spending. No one cared to listen. Guess what? Now I'm getting older. So now you get to pay my bills. Maybe you will learn something from all of this.
JimW-959777
You drank the political kool-aid the Repub's were handing out I see, you're just regurgitating what all your "boys" are throwing up. Had nothing to do with lending to "burger flippers". It was & always will be SPECULATORS!!!! This has never changed. Speculation causes bubbles to grow & pop!! Stop trying to make everything freakin political!
Dan--sorry, but it had to do with BOTH. I know too many people who took out second mortgages to finance cars, vacations, expensive toys and life style, etc. to be considered blameless, and they were NOT speculators.
Many WERE, however, boomers whose parents saved up to pay for the BOOMER's college education, and the Boomers didn't seem to realize that that was a sacrifice that SHOULD have been made.
Gen X is the first generation that is being hit by the reality of having to borrow to go to school, while still nostalgically remembering the days of having mom and dad buy their car, having all the electronics money could buy, massive wardrobes, etc. without having a clue of how to pay for it EXCEPT on Credit cards.
There is nothing wrong with speculators as long as they use their own money to speculate. The problem with Frank and Dodd was that they let speculators gamble with tax payer money.
Bush killed me. My salary has improved, but I invested in real estate and having two rentals and my own home I purchsed in 2004. I had a net worth of over $500K at age 26, now, with the real estate collapse, I am in the negative. Stocks have also done so much worse. Gamble, gamble....
It was Dems like Barney Frank who caused the housing bubble, and all of that happened before Bush even took office. Nice Try.
You dope ! At 26 you should have taken that 500 K then got a real job.
Bob you should be thanking Dodd/Frank for your demise in the housing market.
Hey Bob, where did you come up with the money for the down payment on those rental properties, eh? I'm Gen X and nobody owned their home at 26 because nobody had the 20% down payment yet. If we did own a home, it was a little starter with a 1970's kitchen. Not these 3000 sq ft behemoths that you can't afford the mortgage on.
Did Mommy and Daddy give you the money?
Dummy. You deserve whatever you got. You got suckered and paid for it, so stop whining.
Really mine have come back.
Baby Boomers say "hands off my pension", a Gen X would say "What's a pension?" Baby Boomers say at 67 "hands off my Social Security", a Gen X would say "Social Security won't be around when I'm 77" Boomers say "hands off my Medicare", Gen X says "Jeezus, my private insurance premiums just tripled". Boomers say "capitalism works", Gen X says "My tech job was just outsourced to _____— fill in the blank"... Yeah, Gen X is getting torched in this one, and it pretty much chaps me to hear Boomers talk about how terrible they have it.
Mad Matt--sorry, but the boomers ALSO paid into all those things, and when I was in HIGH school in the 60's (class of '69! yeah!) I wrote a paper about how SS was not going to survive UNLESS we raised the retirement age to all boomers, and reduced gradually the amount of benefits.
Guess which party was in control of Congress for most of the next 30 years?
If you are a gen X-er, you need to be SAVING and investing and NOT living the high life off of credit cards.
Because, believe me, YOU are going to be stuck taking care of Boomers who believed (stupidly) that SS was the genie in the lamp that would take care of their every want and need in retirement, rather than spending every penny (and more!) as they went along.
Boomers were/are the generation of "ME". Their parents handed them everything. Back when grants covered college costs, well paying jobs were attainable, you could survive on minimum wage, gas was cheap, and their parents had a nest egg to leave them. That is fantasy for Gen X. Boomers were not straddled with student loans, a corrupted market or outsourcing of quality employment.
Gen X was the latch key generation. We had to survive on our own and our merits in a much tougher economy and world. We didn't have mothers in the home they had to work to survive on two incomes. Were were not pampered or had any smoke blew up our asses like the millennials.
The first computer generation and an educated generation. Boomers are the ones controlling industry and their "ME" first era of greed is what has transpired from their leadership. As in the 60's it was all about them really the only difference is they traded their collective good ideology for a personal attainment one. Hence the criminality on Wall St., massive income disparity and corporate dominance.
Its called selling out to the corporate theocracy they rallied against. Not all are this way though I know some old schoolers that still have the rebellious mindset.
The problem as well is that Generation X is smaller so we don't have the voting power or the money to back up a candidate significantly. Our best best bet is to get the younger generations to vote as well. This will be their legacy as well. They will get stuck with the bill long after we are gone.
Ironic that in the 80's some really popular bumper stickers read "He who dies with the most toys wins" and "I'm spending my children's inheritance". "If you love something set if free, if it doesn't come back hunt it down and kill it".
I had the priviledge of reading those when I was about 14-15 years old.
Yea,you know for years I got chided by my boomer siblings about having to live at home at 25-32 years of age..Yea and have to pay a $700/month rent when you bring home $325 a week? Ya right..When they were that age rent was $200 a month,you got paid a week $250 so yea you could afford to rent an apt. and still eat.Now,forget it unless you have roomates.I am a believer that history has a way of repeating itself and I think the X generation is worse off than their parents.We are the new 'suffer in silence' generation.
Even though we live way below our means and still have quite a bit of equity in our house, we had more equity and wealth in 2005. It was easier to find a well paying job than it is today, even GenX (anyone over 35)is being pushed out of the job market as being too old or are left to settle for jobs that pay less. Once the boomers use SS, it's worrisome whether there will be anything left. We have savings in 401k, but we worry about the market being fair, stable , cost of fees so how much will be left at retirement. Not only has GenX been hit hard but they have new worries about the future too.
Yea,could'nt agree more Tao
I think we are in a depression, not a recession. I just think that the powers that be avoid calling it what it is for fear of the obvious repercussions. My son and his wife, both in their 40's, with good work histories prior to 2010, have now been unemployed for over 18 months. Unemployment has run out for them. They have lowered their job standards considerably in order to make just enough to get by. Even that hasn't helped. They take temp jobs whenever they can for $10 an hour just to pay the rent. I think now they are discounted by many prospective employers because of the long gap in their employment which may be attributed to instability, regardless of what the cause is. They have two middle school children. It's been a disaster for their family. They lost their home and two cars. How is this just a "recession"? I'm 70 and I've never seen a "recession" as bad as this one.
Sounds like me - good work history prior to 2010.
Best wishes to your family.
Painfully aware--you have just pointed out the fact that extending unemployment is NOT necessarily a good thing, since it 'allows' people to be more choosy in their job hunt, with the eventual degradation of their 'hirability' due to the gap.
I just feel for all people who are trying to make it.How many hard working people have lost theyre job or home or just cant pay the bills.It was the banks and wall street.And like saps we bailed them out.Funny it looks like its about to happen again.
I am doing better, but that is because I am a hard worker and kept an eye out on where the economy was going. I never take on debt that I can't pay off in cash except for my mortgage. I also made sure that I saved enough to go years without income if I had to. That kind of success is difficult for most people because it requires discipline.
Quite patting yourself on the back. I was a hard worker too, and only have home debt. I lived below my means and amassed good resources to fall back on. I've been unemployed over two YEARS. I'm not disatisfied w/ the # of interviews I've had. My resumed has been complimented. My interviewing skills have been complimented. But no offers. I want to work.
This could have been you, so try to act more grateful.
Actually I am grateful and I could go 5 years without working because I have prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. If there are no jobs where you live then you need to move and stop making with the excuses. There are jobs out there but people limit what they will do to get them. Move to where the jobs are if you really want to work that bad.
What the hell your doing wrong don't tell me your doing every thing good because if you were you would have a job it is very very very easy to get a job.
Actually the people who got hit worst by the recession are the early 20 somethings. It is physically impossible for any of us to make ends meeting between crippling student loan debt and the inability to actually get a proper career. It is insane for an 'entry' level position to require 5 years of experience before they will even talk to you. Hell, many want two years of professional experience before they will allow you to be an unpaid intern.
Thank you! We who are in our 20s are expected to take care of our Gen X parents and/or grandparents which is virtually impossible when we're scraping by ourselves. Recent grads can't get jobs in their degree field and no one wants to give them a chance. I personally have been in and out of work since 2007 because of the economy. I'm going to school and have 3 PT jobs including working for myself and going crazy working 4-6 days a week. I'm not making enough a month to even afford my own apartment; something's wrong here.
Think about what it would be like if you had kids and/or a mortgage. No family that will take in in rent and household expenses for free. Maybe health problems are settling in early due to stress endured when you were working.
Your start in life has been delayed. How would you feel if you got started and in your groove...and then crashed into your career wall and lost it all?
And how are you taking care of your parents and grandparents if you can't even afford your own apartment? Are you living in your parents basement and doing chores around the house is how you "take care of" your parents and grandparents?
The main problem is that we are in danger of never being able to get a start in life. You want kids, or to own a house, or to even live on your own in a safe area? Recent college graduates have one of the highest rates of depression and suicide in the nation because the situation for most of us is hopeless. I am lucky that I have parents who can help me, but most people don't and they are really screwed. My best friend for example works 2 part time jobs and it's not unusual for her to have to go without eating so she can pay rent, bills, and her student loans. If you can't pay one of those, you ruin your credit and will never be able to get a house, or even a car for many. Think about how it feels to have worked your ass off for the good school, the good grades, the internships, so on and so forth only to be cast aside. What about another friend who got a degree in aerospace engineering only to be fired from his part time stock job that he used to pay his way through college? Our start in life hasn't been delayed, it's been made impossible. Sadly when the economy does recover we will be the ones cast aside as well. Gen X has the experience, the generation after us will be the new young hires and we will be left behind trying to scrape by and told we're too old to not have experience.
Hey Samantha, nobody expects you to take care of us. The last I heard, you early 20 somethings were moving back in with your parents because you can't find a job. And if you don't have a job, you have no money. So who's paying your bills?
We are. We are paying for our grown children AND our parents. You can't even take care of yourselves, so get off your high horse and grow up.
B.S.
So when will they learn how credit works?
college is a scam. not sure if you knew that.
True - and I'm one of them. Many of us were middle management, and that level was hardest hit in the downsizings. I've been unemployed 2 years, despite education and two decades experience.
Many employers are discriminatory against the unemployed, and others who might consider hiring you at much lower than your last wage are afraid you'll leave as soon as someone offers you a higher wage (which won't happen). I'm facing that situation now. IF I am FORTUNATE enough to get one of the two jobs I recently interviewed for, the pay will be approx. $23,000-$30,000 less.
According to net worth I am financially worse off since my house dropped 50% and ate up any worth I have. Though I wouldn't feel the impact of that unless I tried to sell it.
As for everyday living I think I am better off. I am getting debts paid off and hope to be almost debt free (all but mortgage and student loans) by early next year. I'm saving for retirement with my 401k and I still have a pension available with my company. If the pension is still there when I retire is another story.
I'm not hurting to pay bills. Just dropped more than 3 pts and 10 years of my mortgage by refinancing using HARP. So, I'm happy about that.
Good, lets get drunk.
Gen-X always gets screwed... thanks Baby Boomers.
Yes...and because we were the baby bust, elected officials don't give a crap about us - we don't produce enough votes for them to care.
I'm 49. Some call me a boomer, some call me Gen X. How are boomers hurting you/us?
The cutoff for Gen. X - born after 1964.
There was a huge rise in population after the men returned home after WWII in 1945. That changed drastically when the children of those WWII vets were old enough to start families.
Elected officials' lawmaking decisions depend on what get's them re-elected, which is dependent on two things: 1) vote count 2) campaign contributions. As regards to 1, boomers deliver a lot of votes; Gen. Xers don't.
Awesome. No problem, man!
As a conservative, I used to think that working hard was the answer.
But the progressive wave is hitting the shores with no restraint in sight.
I have, therefore, switched my thinking given that wave and given where I am in life.
I now intend to take advantage of any give-away that is available. By the time those who think this give-away philosophy is the one to pursue are required to pay for it, I'll be long dead and buried.
Sounds like your brain preceeded you to burial
Ah, the the mindless, debate rebuttal - NAME CALLING.
Where's the contribution of your snarky little dimwitted comment?
"nothing new" makes un clever, snarky comment re progressive and is shocked at being called out on it rather than coddled or back slapped-
amusingly, perfectly personifying the mindset he perceives and snarks at, poor little fella
At 65 with a GenX Son at 40 life is not always fair. Bankruptcy at mid 40's due to health with huge medical debts. Was successful but did the right thing and tried to pay all my bills...ran out of money..LOL. My Son went 3 years with no work in recruiting but now he doing well, high tech is making a huge comeback at least for recruiters. Hope he is able to take care of me if need be but I count on making it on my own. I know it's the old cliche that is out of date but hard work and being in the right place and the right time is awfully important. I do feel for the GenX that are in the give me crowd...they will not survive..our liberal give me mentality that is seemed to be thriving now is not the way...IMHO
There in no way we can get over it! Think about it when your net worth decline by 40% and the "real inflation (not the government dressed-up figures" going up at least 20 to 30% or more at that time. It is just really really hard on everybody with a regular job. Can you imagine if you also got lay off one day and had to find a new job to start all over again? Gee, what a nightmare.
Dude, take a spelling and grammar class then post.
MO are you here to give him a grade? are you the Newsvine Grammar police and are going to give him a fine? Stop being a spelling NAZI and relax this is a blog.
yet these "gen-Xers" will vote the same bum into office because they cannot see through his lies.
19 deleted, Tenthcircle calling the author names. Don't do that. It's against the User Agreement.
You're suspended for a week.
The sad truth is that over the past 40+ years the
Boomers have voted, cycle after cycle, to drive our
once great nation over a cliff. It has been widely
known for anyone who cared that something was seriously
wrong at least as far back as 1992 when Ross Perot used
charts to show us what was happening during his campaign
commercials.
The Greed of the Boomers has led them to suck the life out
of their children and the future of this nation. Roughly
half of our Federal budget now goes to various OLD PEOPLE
programs during a time when the young are suffering.
The YOUNG are being forced to pay terrible prices for the sins of the OLD.
The nation could have been saved. You OLDSTERS could have voted LIBERTARIAN.
You old people could have voted for freedom and liberty instead of handouts.
Now your children face tyranny and poverty, but at least you get your SS checks.
Today's graduating class is going to pay terrible prices for the greed of the
generations before them. There suffering will be great and their lives will be short.
Here's a tissue. Boomers are not yet eligible for SS. Try again
The thunder of the Democratic Cavalry has arrived
The reason why the Boehner and the extreme right wing hate education funded by the government.
Did you know that during the Clinton Administration the reason why so many college loans were taken out? Those loans were taken out by Republicans hoping to destroy the image of Clinton by not repaying the loans so that the Republicans would have something to campaign against Democrats to smear their political party into the ground with.
Another link to the Republicans Extremist hating education is two fold.
The first is the word classes. In the plural form the word has a seperate word asses. The Republicans that hate education because they think that they are personification of what is contained in their religious textbooks hate to be made asses, or the Democratic Icon, the Donkey out of because those who are educated know that they are not the reborn spirit of those in religious texts. More importantly though the Republicans who act in this manner know they are not the spirits of those from their religious textbooks but are merely con artists and scammers of which the educated make asses out of such people on a daily basis.
In the singular form of class the word ass is present where everytime the Republicans see the word ass as it is once again associated with the Democrats Icon, the Ass or the Donkey. Thus creating in their mind an image not of a Donkey but of a proud and powerful Stallion that they cannot compete against. The Republican and their elephant cannot compete against the Stallion for the simple fact that the ass is part of the Republican no matter how much they hate it. The ass will always chase them down no matter where they go because they cannot get away from their own asses.
The other reason is that Republicans hate education is because of the word Ass being considered a swear before their good when they come across something hard dealing with education and they swear even in their mind. So it is better for them to only listen and be like slaves so that they are perfect in every aspect before God.
This is the reason why Boehner and his religious right wing are trying to have the government reduce its loan payout to Americans.
What a bunch of asses.
"widely known for anyone who cared"
Translation: informed solely by bumper stickers.
So, very, very, wrong, @Steelers. The first wave of Boomers hit age 65 about a year and a half ago. We are in sooooooo much trouble for the next 20 years.
yep ..they gonna milk every nickle out of the system.