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'The Middle Class Is Dead,' Why So Many Millennials Feel Stuck, Despite Making More Than Previous Generations

5 hours ago

  • Collective millennial wealth has jumped by more than $12 trillion dollars over the last five years

  • Yet many millennials still feel that financial security is out of their reach

  • Experts say that the death of the middle class is to blame for the phenomenon, keeping the generation in a break-even cycle instead of allowing them to get ahead

New data from the Federal Reserve shows that millennials are now worth a collective $16.26 trillion, up from just $4.54 trillion just five years ago.

Yet despite this massive financial growth, and findings that millennials are in better financial condition than previous generations were at the same point, many millennials still feel that financial security is out of reach, according to CNBC.

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A study from Lending Tree found that millennials between the ages of 26 and 41 have a median net worth of just under $85,000. Adjusted for inflation, Gen Xers in the same age range had a median net worth of $78,000 and Baby Boomers had a net worth of just $58,000. However, a 2024 study by Edelman Financial Engines found that only 12% of Americans considered themselves wealthy.

So, where is the disconnect between the increase in generational wealth and the decrease in financial security coming from?

According to Freddie Smith, an economics content creator who spoke to CNBC, the death of the middle class is the root of the problem. “​​We’re living in two separate economies,” he said. “The middle class, unfortunately, is dead for millennials and Gen Zers. Or, best-case scenario, the goalpost has just moved and it’s still obtainable, but you have to make over six figures to have that middle-class life.”

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Rachel Schnider, CEO of fintech company Canary, agrees. “Over the course of the year, [most Americans] might make enough money to pay for basic living expenses and cover their bills, but if one major thing happens then they can get behind.”

Many millennials are living at a break-even point. As costs rise for things like housing and insurance, and inflation continues to trend upward, the one-time markers of the American Dream continue to slip farther and farther out of reach.