Generation NeXt Parenting

Generation X and money...

I did a little research and found that money is a big issue for us Xers (no surprise there). Check these out!

Generation X Finance helping a unique generation achieve financial independence
Sample post:
The Gen X Guide to Stretching Your Dollar
While I don’t like to regurgitate articles found on other sites very often I did stumble across one this morning that couldn’t be more appropriate for this site. Yahoo! Finance has a piece titled The Gen X Guide to Stretching Your Dollar which was actually a piece picked up from Reuters. Either way, the article doesn’t bring anything earth-shattering to the table but there are some key points to take away from it./

Bicentennial Baby musings on Political, Economic, Social Issues Facing Generation X and Gen Y
Sample post:
We Do In Fact Have It Worse Than Our Fathers
More evidence is out there suggesting that our generation is falling further into economic disparity. More evidence is out there suggesting that the American dream is becoming unattainable. A deadly combination of outsourcing and productivity gains are bankrupting the future of a generation that is already profoundly aware that they will have little if any Social Security. There is no more time for a bullhorn we need a damn battering ram. Gen X / Gen Y read below and then call your congressman…

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — American men in their 30s are earning less than their father’s generation did, challenging a long-held belief that each generation will be better off than the one that preceded it, according to a new study published Friday.

The report, the first in an ongoing 18-month study on economic mobility in the United States, also revealed that the income growth of the median American household is declining.
The study was produced by a handful of politically diverse think tanks including the Pew Charitable Trusts, the American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the Urban Institute. It looked at income levels of American men in their 30s, which can be a good indicator of lifetime income.

Relying on Census Bureau figures, the study’s authors found that after adjusting for inflation, men in their 30s in 2004 had a median income of about $35,000 per year, for a 12 percent drop compared with $40,000 per year for men in the same age group in 1974.

That stood in stark contrast to men in their 30s in 1994, who earned 5 percent more than their fathers did.

Similarly, American families, which experienced a 32 percent increase in income levels between 1964 and 1994, saw household income growth slow to 9 percent between 1974 and 2004, according to the report.

“There is clearly some story here that [U.S.] productivity gains are not trickling down to the median family,” said John Morton, a co-author of the study and the managing director of economic policy initiatives at the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Even as male incomes have declined and household income growth has slowed, the nation’s productivity has remained robust. While the two once kept pace with each other, U.S. productivity has quickly outpaced income growth since the mid-1970s, according to the report.
The study’s authors, who plan to examine relative mobility, or the ability of Americans to move up or or down in social strata, said their report shows the canonical belief in an American meritocracy may be unraveling.

“The expectation that each generation will do better than their parents has become a fundamental part of what we call ‘The American Dream,’” said Morton. “But this new analysis suggests this bedrock belief may be shifting under our feet.”

~~And here's a book on the subject--Generation Debt: How Our Future Was Sold Out for Student Loans, Bad Jobs, NoBenefits, and Tax Cuts for Rich Geezers--And How to Fight Back. Synopsis: A new book tackles the 18-to-35-year-old generation's problems--those they face and those they create.Kamenetz believes the younger generation is hampered by the fact that salaries and job opportunities haven't kept up with drastically increasing costs of living. Because of the exorbitant cost of college, many young people can't afford to go, and those who do go graduate with huge debt. Graduates expect to pay off those loans once they get jobs, but entry-level jobs often come with low wages. The job prospects are even worse for those who don't finish or who don't go to college at all--some can't even afford living on their own, another drastically increased cost. The solution to these problems? Kamenetz makes a passionate argument for young people to take action, such as lobbying the government as a cohesive group and being practical and frugal about money matters.

Labels: finances, generation x, generational statistics, money

posted by Tricia Goyer @ 9:19 AM