Who Really Had It Worse: Boomers or Millennials?

The episode examines whether millennials or baby boomers had it harder financially in early adulthood using data on wages, housing affordability, and student debt. Wages for both generations were not wildly different when adjusted for inflation, and millennials now have higher average and median wealth than boomers did at the same age. Despite higher student debt, millennials' household net worth has climbed above boomers', though housing affordability was worse for boomers in the early 1980s due to high mortgage rates.

It uses concrete economic data to challenge the widely held belief that millennials are financially worse off than baby boomers, offering a nuanced update to an over-simplified cultural narrative.

1. 01Millennials' wages compared to baby boomers' at similar life stages are not significantly lower when inflation-adjusted.
2. 02Housing affordability was worse for baby boomers in the early 1980s due to mortgage rates exceeding 10%, even though today's prices are higher.
3. 03Millennials hold more student debt than boomers did, but their overall median wealth is now higher, contradicting the narrative of widespread financial shortfall.