Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia \u2013 Millennials are often regarded as a\ngeneration that struggles to achieve financial security.<\/p>\n
Difficulty finding work, slow wage growth and increasingly\nunaffordable housing are among the problems associated with this\ngeneration.<\/p>\n
There are reasons for this perception. Many millennials entered the\nlabour market as the global economy was hit by the 2007-09 financial\ncrisis. The slow recovery made it harder for them to build careers,\naccumulate savings and buy homes at a young age.<\/p>\n
These conditions were evident in several advanced economies during\nthe 2010s. At the height of Greece\u2019s economic crisis, youth unemployment\nexceeded 50%. Young workers in the UK faced stagnant wage growth, while\nabout 40% of young people in Germany were still living with their\nparents.<\/p>\n
But more than a decade on, the economic circumstances of millennials\nare beginning to change significantly.<\/p>\n
An analysis by The Economist of 32 advanced economies found that\nmillennials are now increasingly financially secure. A generation once\nthought to be economically disadvantaged is beginning to surpass the\nfinancial well-being of its parents\u2019 generation at the same age.<\/p>\n
Millennials are getting richer, with incomes surpassing those\nof earlier generations<\/strong><\/p>\n According to The Economist\u2019s analysis, millennials in 29 of the 32\nadvanced economies have higher real incomes than earlier generations did\nat the same age.<\/p>\n Real income is adjusted for inflation, showing changes in purchasing\npower rather than merely nominal wage increases.<\/p>\n The only exceptions are Italy, Greece and Japan.<\/p>\n In Italy, millennials aged 30 earn about 10% less than Generation X\ndid at the same age. In Greece, millennials\u2019 incomes remain below those\nof young people before the 2009 economic crisis.<\/p>\n The situation is similar in Japan. In 2019, household income among\npeople aged 35 was lower than that of the same age group in 1994, after\nthe country experienced prolonged economic stagnation.<\/p>\n By contrast, millennials in the other 29 countries have made progress\nin income relative to previous generations. The gains have been faster\nin some countries, including the United States and Poland.<\/p>\n In Australia, the UK and France, intergenerational income growth has\nslowed compared with the gains previously enjoyed by Generation X.\nNevertheless, millennials still have higher real incomes than their\npredecessors.<\/p>\n As the crisis recedes, the labour market is more\nfavourable<\/strong><\/p>\n Millennials\u2019 improved financial well-being has been driven mainly by\ntwo factors: the recovery of the labour market and demographic\nchange.<\/p>\n Federal Reserve data show that the median net worth of US households\nheaded by people aged 35-44 rose from US$115,577 in 2019 to US$156,000\nin 2025. By contrast, the figure for those under 35 fell from US$42,725\nin 2022 to US$32,820 in 2025.<\/p>\n When the global financial crisis hit in 2007-09, young workers were\namong those most vulnerable to job losses. Companies tend to reduce\nrecruitment and cut staff when economic conditions deteriorate.<\/p>\n As the economy recovered, job opportunities began to increase. In\nGreece, for example, nearly 80% of people aged 35-44 are now employed,\nwhich is believed to be the highest rate ever recorded for that age\ngroup.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a wave of baby-boomer retirements has created\nopportunities for millennials to move into more senior roles.<\/p>\n The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated this trend. One US study found that\nthere were about three million more retirees by the end of 2022 than\nwould have been expected without the pandemic\u2019s impact.<\/p>\n Labour supply has also declined in several advanced economies. Of the\n38 members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development\n(OECD) covered by data cited by The Economist, 10 have seen their\nworking-age populations shrink.<\/p>\n This could strengthen workers\u2019 bargaining power, particularly that of\nmillennials, who now have more experience and developed skills.<\/p>\n Millennials are getting richer, from home ownership to\ninheritance<\/strong><\/p>\n Millennials\u2019 improving financial circumstances are also reflected in\nrising home ownership and wealth accumulation.<\/p>\n In the United States, only about 40% of millennials owned a home by\nthe age of 30, far fewer than Generation X at the same age. But by their\n40s, the oldest millennials had caught up with previous generations in\nhome ownership.<\/p>\n A similar trend is evident in the UK. According to the Institute for\nFiscal Studies (IFS), the gap in home ownership between millennials and\nearlier generations narrowed from 20 percentage points at age 30 to\nabout 10 percentage points at age 40.<\/p>\n Rising incomes and savings, lower student debt and a tendency to\ndelay marriage are among the factors influencing this trend.<\/p>\n Millennials are also increasingly prominent in business. Nearly 10%\nof US billionaires belong to this generation, while major technology\ncompanies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta are led by millennials.<\/p>\n Their wealth could continue to grow through inheritance. The\nEconomist estimates that annual inheritances are equivalent to about 10%\nof GDP in advanced economies. The IFS, meanwhile, projects that the\nmedian inheritance for people born in the UK in the 1980s will reach\n\u00a3136,000, more than twice the \u00a366,000 estimated for those born in the\n1960s.<\/p>\n Even so, the increase in wealth is uneven, particularly because not\nall millennials have access to assets or family inheritances.<\/p>\n Gen Z faces new challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n As millennials\u2019 economic circumstances improve, the next generation\nmay face a different set of challenges.<\/p>\n Generation Z, or Gen Z, born roughly between 1997 and 2012, is\nbeginning to enter the labour market as artificial intelligence (AI)\nadvances rapidly.<\/p>\n Unlike millennials, who faced the global financial crisis early in\ntheir careers, Gen Z faces the risk that automation and AI will change\nemployers\u2019 labour needs.<\/p>\n These technologies could replace some administrative tasks, basic\nanalysis and routine work that have often served as entry-level jobs for\nyoung people starting professional careers.<\/p>\n This creates an intriguing generational shift: millennials, who once\nstruggled to enter the workforce, are increasingly taking managerial\npositions and making investment decisions about technologies that could\nreduce the need for workers.<\/p>\n The impact of AI on jobs will nevertheless depend on companies\u2019\nability to create new types of work and workers\u2019 readiness to develop\nnew skills.<\/p>\n In other words, while millennials faced challenges caused by an\neconomic crisis, Gen Z may come under pressure from technological\nchange.<\/p>\n What lies ahead for millennials and Gen Z in\nIndonesia?<\/strong><\/p>\n The improvement in millennials\u2019 well-being in advanced economies\nraises the question of whether a similar trend is taking place in\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data for 2025 show that the open\nunemployment rate among people aged 15-19 was 23.34%, while it was\n14.35% among those aged 20-24. These rates were much higher than the\n3.47% for people aged 30-34 and 2.35% for those aged 35-39.<\/p>\n In terms of home ownership, BPS reported that 85.07% of Indonesian\nhouseholds lived in homes they owned in 2025, a slight increase from\n84.95% in 2024. In Jakarta, however, the figure was only about 55%, well\nbelow the national average.<\/p>\n Even so, these figures do not prove that Indonesian millennials are\nbetter off than earlier generations. Comparisons of real incomes and\nwealth across generations are needed to establish whether that is the\ncase.<\/p>",
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