Generation X Fares Poorly During Recession, Says Study

Yahoo News ^ | 6/1/2013 | Abby Ellin

[Publius804]

Members of Generation X, the so-called slackers weaned on Saturday morning cartoons, divorce and cynicism, are now in their late 30s to late 40s. And according to a recent report, those born between 1966 and 1975 really do have something to complain about.

A Pew Charitable Trust study, titled "Retirement Security Across Generations," examined the savings behavior of five age groups before the Great Recession hit and found that Gen Xers - the group of Americans following the baby boomers and range in age from 38 to 47 - fared especially poorly during the recent economic down swing. As a result, their retirement years will likely be more tarnished than golden.

The study, using data from 1989 through 2010 collected by the Federal Reserve Board and the University of Michigan, found that between 2007 and 2010, Gen Xers lost nearly half of their overall net worth, an average of about $33,000, and also had higher levels of debt than previous generations.

A large part of the reason their debt is so high is because of student loans and credit card debt, Erin Currier, who directs Pew's economic mobility project, told ABC News. "They're younger in their professional career relative to other cohorts," she said. "Wealth is a mixture of all kinds of things - savings, personal accounts, investments."

What's more, although Gen-Xers (who earned their moniker from Douglas Coupland's 1991 novel, " Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture"), did see high financial gains as a result of the housing boom, their overall rate of home ownership is lower than that of previous generations.

And while "early" baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1955) and "late" baby boomers (those born between 1956 and 1965) also suffered during the recession, they lost only a small percentage of their....

[GenXteacher]

“But our future scares me some. If something were to happen to our health when we get up there in age, and we couldn’t work, there won’t be anything for us - no Medicaid or Medicare, no social security, no nothing. “

I try to look at it from my grandfather’s perspective. He was a few years older than I am now when Social Security was first introduced. He figured he’d work as long as he could, and trust to God’s providence about the rest. I don’t expect much, and therefore, won’t be disappointed.

[RegulatorCountry]

That was a more close-knit time with extended families, typically lots of siblings and lots of children, people could and did double up under one roof to make it through a rough time. More rural and hence more agricultural too, so feeding themselves was less of a problem than it could have been. Heard both sides of that from my parents who were children during the Great Depression.

My dad’s family owned a decent sized farm outright. Clothing often was hand-me-down and mended. Anything bought from a store was a rare treat. But, they ate well, never really experienced want. They didn’t know they were “poor” because everybody else was in the same boat or worse, felt blessed or even fortunate actually.

My mom’s family was in a city, fairly prosperous prior to the crash, touch and go afterwards, her father ended up working as a barber to support them after having been a business owner, lost most everything they had, had to rent, moved often. The dinner table was frequently sparse.

The lesson is, live beneath your means, avoid debt like the plague, secure a means of feeding yourself and your family independent of outside income, and everything else is gravy.

[rdb3]

Maybe people realize that “generation X” was a bunch of losers and decided to put an end to it...

Losers? I think not.

[MoochPooch]

My brother is a Gen X. He is 47 — & still unable to hold or find a real job. He has repeatedly hit on me for money.

My half-sister is 31; although a licensed social worker, she keeps drifting from job to job. Now she is thinking of getting either a PhD in Social Work or an MBA to make more money. At one point she moved back in with her mother.

I can’t blame society totally; perhaps our indifferent, self-absorbed parents. Which is why I strongly feel that if you can’t raise kids properly, don’t have them. My brother & I needed role models; we didn’t get. Looking at the spoiled millennials, I don’t think their parents have done much better.