By Fox Business. Millennials have a much lower net worth than previous generations, according to a new study.

The average net worth of Americans between the ages of 18 to 35 is less than $8,000 — about 34 percent lower than in 1996, a Deloitte study published Wednesday found.

Despite clichés that millennials are “ruining everything from movies to marriage,” the study found millennials are actually under more economic pressure because of numerous increased costs over the last decade. . .

The Post reported that people in their 20s and 30s a decade ago spent about 12 percent of their incomes on education, health care and rent, but millennials today are spending about 17 percent of their incomes on those expenses, while spending on dining out or alcohol has stayed about the same, at about 11 percent. (Read more from “This Is the Average Millennial’s Net Worth” HERE)

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The Consumer Is Changing, but Perhaps Not How You Think

By Deloitte Insights. Amid this confusing and fast-changing narrative about the changing consumer, we paused to ask ourselves some hard-hitting questions to cut through the noise and arrive at the truth. Has the consumer fundamentally changed? If yes, in what ways have they changed? Is there a seismic difference in the changes that we are witnessing? More importantly, is the hysteria in the marketplace obscuring a much deeper and more fundamental change in consumer behavior? . . .

There is a seismic shift that has taken place in the United States over the past 50 years. The population has become increasingly heterogeneous: Millennials, now representing 30 percent of the population, are the most diverse generational cohort in US history, with roughly 44 percent consisting of ethnic and racial minorities. In comparison, only 25 percent of baby boomers belong to ethnic and racial minorities. . .

We looked at other shifts as well—for instance, cultural influences—to understand ways in which the consumer has changed. Over the past 20 years, the percentage of the population with college degrees or higher has increased significantly, though not uniformly—white and black Americans with a college education have increased by 12 percent and Hispanics by 7 percent. . .

As a result, we’re moving toward a more educated and knowledgeable consumer base with different spending patterns. As a result, we’re moving toward a more educated and knowledgeable consumer base with different spending patterns. However, the cost of education eats into discretionary funds, influencing how consumers spend their money on categories such as apparel, food away from home, and furniture. . .

Marriage, another life cycle milestone, continues to evolve. Between 1997 and 2017, marital rates among whites, Hispanics, and blacks fell from 59 percent, 54 percent, and 39 percent to 55 percent, 50 percent, and 35 percent respectively. The only exception to this downward trend were Asians, whose marriage rate increased from 58 percent in 1997 to 61 percent in 2017; the trend has been relatively steady since then. (Read more from “The Consumer Is Changing, but Perhaps Not How You Think” HERE)

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