According to a survey of nearly 2,000 adults, one quarter of millennials, the generation aged 18 to 34, 17 percent of adults between the ages of 35 to 54 and 13 percent of those 55 and older are not making enough money to cover their basic needs. The survey was conducted by research firm WSL Strategic Retail (h/tChicago Tribune).
At 54 percent, the employment rate for Americans aged 18 to 24 is at its lowest in more than 60 years, according to the Pew Research Center. On top of that, student loan debt is more than $1 trillion. The New York Fed estimates that two-thirds of that debt is held by people under 30.
Last year, 5.9 million people aged 18 to 34 lived with their parents, according to U.S. Census Bureau data cited by the Wall Street Journal.
The United States, once the leader in the percentage of college graduates age 25 to 34, has dropped to sixteenth among thirty-six developed nations, with more and more students dropping out because they can’t afford the rising costs.
