Incomes Are Declining. Don’t Be A Victim Of Circumstance

 “You don’t know how good  you have it! Back in my day, life was tough. Jobs were hard to find and  the pay was low. Now-a-days, the new generation is spoiled!” 

Sound familiar? 

Whether you’re 80 years old, or you’re 20 years old, you’ve probably had someone tell you that they had it tougher than you. 

People think that they, themselves, always had it tougher than the generation after them. 

It’s like that with everyone. You always think that your experience is more dramatic than someone else’s. 

As humans progress, we have a better standard of living, we have more  conveniences, we have better health care, and we have better knowledge.  Newer generations should have it easier. 

So, it makes sense when someone says, “You don’t know how good you have it now! You should’ve seen what I had to go through!” 

But is that true? Is it always worse for previous generations? 

According to incomes, this is NOT true. Millennials actually have it worse than previous generations. 

For example, in Spain, Generation X has seen a 62% increase in income compared to the Boomer Generations. 

In contrast, Millennials have seen a 30% decrease in income compared to Generation X.


Source: Bloomberg

Using income as a data point, this means that newer generations are actually worse off than previous generations. 

“Britain and Spain stand out. In the U.K., Generation X were 54  percent better off than baby boomers born between 1946 and 1965. By  contrast, millennials, born between 1980 and 2000, had incomes just 6  percent higher than those of Generation X at the same age.” 

From a macro economic perspective, this is not too surprising. If we  assume that markets and economies are cyclical, then we can see how the  Millennial Generation may be the start of the down cycle in terms of  income. 

Each individual economy has different numbers, but the overall trend  is very similar. The world has seen a massive bull market since the  Boomer Generation really started to enter the work force. 

Since a ‘Boomer’ is considered anyone born between 1946 and 1965,  that means that the early 80’s saw markets and economies really start to  take off:


Source: MT

So, does that mean that  Millennials and the next few younger generations are doomed to ride this  cyclical income decline down further? 

Well… maybe.  

We’re already seeing massive youth unemployment in countries such as Spain, Greece, and Italy. 

In addition to Boomers staying in the workforce longer, younger  generations are being displaced by automation and economies that are not  growing as fast as the population. 

Younger generations are becoming a victim of circumstance. 

And that’s where the opportunity lies…  

The problem is that most people are expecting to continue to work in  an environment that provides a steady salary, with plush benefits, all  for completing monotonous tasks. 

The reality is that these types of jobs - task oriented, instead of  decision oriented - will be completely outsourced to automation in the  future. 

So, Millennials and younger generations have to pivot their  perspective. They can’t follow the footsteps of the previous workforce,  because those footsteps are going to lead to jobs that no longer exist. 

For those who see this trend, there is a massive amount of money to  be made. It won’t be easy, though. The normal staples of home ownership,  a steady paycheck, and a reliable work schedule will have to be thrown  out the window.