Millennials caught short in crisis

Millennials are coming into the pandemic-induced downturn with the chips stacked against them. Not only are they carrying unprecedented amounts of student and credit card debt, they’re more involved in the gig economy, which the contagion is disrupting. While Generation X, now from 40 to 55 years old, weathered the financial crisis at the same age that millennials are today (23 to 35), they did so with about twice the total assets, according to a New York Times analysis. Other differences include:

• Millennials without college degrees are worse off than previous generations in their 20s and 30s, an analysis by Pew Research Center shows.
• Black millennials have fallen further behind white peers financially, according to research by New America.
• With about a third of stock market holdings than Gen X had at their age, millennials have missed out on the stock market gains of recent years.