Gen X and Gen Y have it tougher financially than their parents when it comes to achieving key life milestones, according to a new survey conducted by ME.
When all respondents were asked to rate the challenges they experienced in achieving 10 different life milestones, more younger than older generations indicated greater financial challenges across 9 of the 10 milestones.
Younger generations nominated ‘starting their own business’, ‘buying their first home’ and ‘raising a family’ as their top challenges, while older generations nominated ‘having money left over for holidays and luxuries’, ‘starting their own business’, and ‘making ends meet’ as their top challenges.
“There’s often debate about whether younger generations are struggling compared to their older compatriots and these findings support the argument that they are experiencing greater financial challenges,” ME’s head of deposits and transactional banking, Nic Emery, said.
“As a bank we see firsthand how hard it is for younger people, particularly for Gen Ys buying a first home, when average house prices are seven times the average income today compared to three times thirty years ago.”
The survey also found that women are finding it tougher than men. Nearly three quarters (73%) of women said they found it difficult to start their own business – 11 points higher than men – and 63% said earning a decent income was difficult, compared to just 53% of men.
ME commissioned the survey using a panel of 1,000 Australian adults.
