The Growing Generational Divide: Economic Constraints or Changing Priorities

Data Visualisation - Assignment 3

Shenaya Perera - s4026511

2025-06-13

Changing Priorities or Economic Constraints?

When I speak to people from older generations—especially my Asian parents —I tend to find myself reflecting on how different life is for my generation.

Older generations seemed to reach key milestones such as buying a home, starting a family, settling into stable careers, at a much younger age.

But today, majority of us are:

  • Renting longer
  • Prioritising education or careers
  • Choosing flexibility over ownership

Is this because our priorities and perspectives on life have changed? Or is it because economic realities caused by rising costs, stagnant wages, and debt leave us with limited options?

This study was preodimantly based on th US economy.

Source: istockimages

Home Ownership, House Price Index and Median Income by Generations

  • Hover over the visualisation to view the statistics.

Younger Men and Women Living at Home

Housing Crisis

  • Homes owned by Genz reduced from 17% to 12% between 1985 and 2025, and 32% to 26% for millennials, indicating that people who are homeowners in their 20’s and 30’s in the US has reduced. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2025).
  • This is may be as a result of the rapid increase in nominal house prices, increasing 4 fold of the 1985 house price levels, caused by inflation. (Federal Housing Finance Agency, 2025)
  • Nominal annual median income rose by approximately 130% over the same period, indicating that nominal house prices rose at a faster rate compared to income earned, exacerbating financial stress for younger generations. (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2025)
  • High unemployment in the recent years caused by the pandemic, resulted in a rise in unemployment to 15% for the 25 year old category. ( Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020)
  • As a result of Covid and unemployment, both younger men and women living at home increased in 2020, with more than 20% of men aged 25- 34 living at home, due to the high costs associated with renting out or owning houses during the period. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2025).

Family Planning and Educational Demands

  • A decline in births below 20 from 13% of total births in 1995 to just 4% in 2023, highlighting a major shift away from teen pregnancies. (National Center for Health Statistics, 2024)
  • Decrease in birth rates of 20-24 year olds from 25% in 1995 to 17% in 2023, indicating a possible delay in entry into parenthood due to socioeconomic reasons such as education.
  • In the next slides, it is highlighted that women studying a bachelors has increased across all four races compared to men.
  • Moreover, as a result of the education, student debts levels are believed to increase mainly for black women, causing the delay of marriage and child birth. (College Board, 2023)
  • Thereby, due to changes in priorities and personal pursuits, and the demands of the job market, more women pursue education now compared to older generations.
  • Additionally, Figure 5 highlights that child birth costs have increased substantially over the 20 years,compared to general inflation and median household income, and therefore, due to the skyrocketing costs of raising children, many younger women with financial constraints may be deterred from starting families at a young age.

Education and Birth Rates by Race

Rising Child Birth Costs

Debt Composition by Generation

  • Hover over the visualisation to view the statistics.

Debt Composition by Generation

  • The debt composition represents the debt breakdown for each generation. (Federal reserve Bank of New York, 2024)
  • This highlights that Millenials and GenX have larger proportion of mortgage debt, whereas Gen Z has a more significant proportion of student loan over the years, making it more evident that furnishing this debt may be a top priority for younger people over the recent years.

Conclusion

  • In conclusion, it is evident that younger generations face relatively more challenging economic conditions such as inflation, student debt, high potential child care expenses and increasingly demanding employment requirements, which have contributed to a evergrowing disparity with older generations in home ownership, family planning, and other major financial commitments.
  • Therefore, it is clear that besides a shift in priorities in lifestyles, younger generations may be at a disadvantage as they have a number of financial hurdles to overcome prior to reaching these milestones, that our older generations seemed to cease with relative ease.

References