Don’t Feel Sorry for Millennials: Data Shows They’re in Their Prime

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Millennials are often regarded as a generation that struggles to achieve financial security.

Difficulty finding work, slow wage growth and increasingly unaffordable housing are among the problems associated with this generation.

There are reasons for this perception. Many millennials entered the labour market as the global economy was hit by the 2007-09 financial crisis. The slow recovery made it harder for them to build careers, accumulate savings and buy homes at a young age.

These conditions were evident in several advanced economies during the 2010s. At the height of Greece’s economic crisis, youth unemployment exceeded 50%. Young workers in the UK faced stagnant wage growth, while about 40% of young people in Germany were still living with their parents.

But more than a decade on, the economic circumstances of millennials are beginning to change significantly.

An analysis by The Economist of 32 advanced economies found that millennials are now increasingly financially secure. A generation once thought to be economically disadvantaged is beginning to surpass the financial well-being of its parents’ generation at the same age.

Millennials are getting richer, with incomes surpassing those of earlier generations

According to The Economist’s analysis, millennials in 29 of the 32 advanced economies have higher real incomes than earlier generations did at the same age.

Real income is adjusted for inflation, showing changes in purchasing power rather than merely nominal wage increases.

The only exceptions are Italy, Greece and Japan.

In Italy, millennials aged 30 earn about 10% less than Generation X did at the same age. In Greece, millennials’ incomes remain below those of young people before the 2009 economic crisis.

The situation is similar in Japan. In 2019, household income among people aged 35 was lower than that of the same age group in 1994, after the country experienced prolonged economic stagnation.

By contrast, millennials in the other 29 countries have made progress in income relative to previous generations. The gains have been faster in some countries, including the United States and Poland.

In Australia, the UK and France, intergenerational income growth has slowed compared with the gains previously enjoyed by Generation X. Nevertheless, millennials still have higher real incomes than their predecessors.

As the crisis recedes, the labour market is more favourable

Millennials’ improved financial well-being has been driven mainly by two factors: the recovery of the labour market and demographic change.

Federal Reserve data show that the median net worth of US households headed by people aged 35-44 rose from US$115,577 in 2019 to US$156,000 in 2025. By contrast, the figure for those under 35 fell from US$42,725 in 2022 to US$32,820 in 2025.

When the global financial crisis hit in 2007-09, young workers were among those most vulnerable to job losses. Companies tend to reduce recruitment and cut staff when economic conditions deteriorate.

As the economy recovered, job opportunities began to increase. In Greece, for example, nearly 80% of people aged 35-44 are now employed, which is believed to be the highest rate ever recorded for that age group.

Meanwhile, a wave of baby-boomer retirements has created opportunities for millennials to move into more senior roles.

The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated this trend. One US study found that there were about three million more retirees by the end of 2022 than would have been expected without the pandemic’s impact.

Labour supply has also declined in several advanced economies. Of the 38 members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) covered by data cited by The Economist, 10 have seen their working-age populations shrink.

This could strengthen workers’ bargaining power, particularly that of millennials, who now have more experience and developed skills.

Millennials are getting richer, from home ownership to inheritance

Millennials’ improving financial circumstances are also reflected in rising home ownership and wealth accumulation.

In the United States, only about 40% of millennials owned a home by the age of 30, far fewer than Generation X at the same age. But by their 40s, the oldest millennials had caught up with previous generations in home ownership.

A similar trend is evident in the UK. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), the gap in home ownership between millennials and earlier generations narrowed from 20 percentage points at age 30 to about 10 percentage points at age 40.

Rising incomes and savings, lower student debt and a tendency to delay marriage are among the factors influencing this trend.

Millennials are also increasingly prominent in business. Nearly 10% of US billionaires belong to this generation, while major technology companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta are led by millennials.

Their wealth could continue to grow through inheritance. The Economist estimates that annual inheritances are equivalent to about 10% of GDP in advanced economies. The IFS, meanwhile, projects that the median inheritance for people born in the UK in the 1980s will reach £136,000, more than twice the £66,000 estimated for those born in the 1960s.

Even so, the increase in wealth is uneven, particularly because not all millennials have access to assets or family inheritances.

Gen Z faces new challenges

As millennials’ economic circumstances improve, the next generation may face a different set of challenges.

Generation Z, or Gen Z, born roughly between 1997 and 2012, is beginning to enter the labour market as artificial intelligence (AI) advances rapidly.

Unlike millennials, who faced the global financial crisis early in their careers, Gen Z faces the risk that automation and AI will change employers’ labour needs.

These technologies could replace some administrative tasks, basic analysis and routine work that have often served as entry-level jobs for young people starting professional careers.

This creates an intriguing generational shift: millennials, who once struggled to enter the workforce, are increasingly taking managerial positions and making investment decisions about technologies that could reduce the need for workers.

The impact of AI on jobs will nevertheless depend on companies’ ability to create new types of work and workers’ readiness to develop new skills.

In other words, while millennials faced challenges caused by an economic crisis, Gen Z may come under pressure from technological change.

What lies ahead for millennials and Gen Z in Indonesia?

The improvement in millennials’ well-being in advanced economies raises the question of whether a similar trend is taking place in Indonesia.

Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data for 2025 show that the open unemployment rate among people aged 15-19 was 23.34%, while it was 14.35% among those aged 20-24. These rates were much higher than the 3.47% for people aged 30-34 and 2.35% for those aged 35-39.

In terms of home ownership, BPS reported that 85.07% of Indonesian households lived in homes they owned in 2025, a slight increase from 84.95% in 2024. In Jakarta, however, the figure was only about 55%, well below the national average.

Even so, these figures do not prove that Indonesian millennials are better off than earlier generations. Comparisons of real incomes and wealth across generations are needed to establish whether that is the case.