Men in their 30s lag behind their fathers in pay

American men in their 30s today are worse off financially than their fathers' generation, a reversal from just a decade ago, when sons generally were better off than their fathers, a new study finds.

The study, the first in a series on economic mobility undertaken by several prominent think tanks, also says the typical American family's income has lagged far behind productivity growth since 2000, a departure from most of the post-World War II period.

The findings suggest "the up escalator that has historically ensured that each generation would do better than the last may not be working very well," says the study, which was scheduled for release Friday.

The study was written principally by John Morton of the Pew Charitable Trusts, which is leading the series, called the Economic Mobility Project, and Isabel Sawhill of the Brookings Institution. Others participating are the Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute and the Urban Institute.

I don’t know where you live or what’s up with your friends.

I live in Texas and I am far from affluent, but just reporting what I observe from my children, their friends, people in my church in that age group.

People you describe with degrees and jobs in high paying fields should be doing well.

I’m not calling your post BS; obviously you believe what you are saying and, anyway, I’m trying not to be rude.

We live in San Jose,CA. In one of the most basic measures of the American dream, we are much poorer. If I were foolish enough to buy a house, I couldn’t feed my family on the difference between my paycheck and the cost of mortgage payments and property taxes for even a small house in a bad neighborhood. By comparison, line operators I oversee where I work with no more than high school educations live in homes they bought 20 years ago that I couldn’t even consider.

The worst is still to come in another ten years when the crush of retirees collecting Social Security and Medicare gets added to my tax bill. About a quarter of the people I work with have less than 5 years until they are eligible to retire, anther quarter in ten years. A lot of these folks are coasting along, riding it out until they retire with fat pension funds and fat 401Ks and everyone of them “entitled” to social security. My generation won’t have any chance once they start picking our pockets to subsidize their retirements.

It might be revealing to know how much debt and savings the young folks around you have. My circle of friends is mostly from church and they seem to be aware and capable with money and do not carry much in the way of debt. We see a lot of people overextended between mortgages, car payments and credit cards. Unfortunately their debts will likely last longer than shoddy materials and workmanship in the houses they overextend themselves to buy.

I knew you lived in Texas. When you posted I imediately thought of Plano or McKinney or Frisco. Could also be San Antonio or Austin. I do not live in your typical McMansion but do live in a very nice older 2 story w/pool and the rest. 35 with 3 kids and I repair garage doors. I did it for a few years as a sub contractor and opened my own business. It was tough and I had to sweat it out for a few years but its worth it.

Many people despise blue collar work. One of the biggest issues I had was either go to college because of the pressure to be seen as educated or start my own business. I took 1 quarter and realized if I put the same money and energy into my business as I would into college, in five years I would be way better off.

I was right.

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