Millennials, they do get a bad rap, told they are ungrateful, workshy and ‘snowflakes’ afraid of when people say anything bad. Many older generation say many of the struggles faced by millennials are of their own making. But really it’s not true. Millennials in general spend less than their counter part generations; Generation X and Baby Boomers across housing, clothing, eating out, food and entertainment.
So when the millennials say they are struggling to afford to buy their own homes, pay for healthcare and education, it’s not down to the fact they are more wasteful generation, other than the older Greatest generation, their spend is the lowest. According to a recent study looking at what families sacrifice, many people give up or cut down on, meals out, new gadgets and new clothes so they can afford to pay for their family’s healthcare and saving for their children’s college education.
The results from the study by Coupon Dash showed what American families sacrifice to pay for escalating healthcare costs and tuition fees for their children:
- Meals out 52%
- Gadgets 49%
- New clothes 48%
- Days out 43%
- Vacations 34%
- Take out 26%
Some comments from people in the study:
“I cannot afford healthcare and don’t qualify for Medicare. I worry a lot about my situation.”
“I can just about afford my family’s healthcare, but I feel we should not have to sacrifice anything for it. It should be a human right and we should have universal healthcare like Canada, Israel and the UK.“
Even with sacrificing we couldn’t afford to pay for it so hope they get scholarships, don’t go or pay themselves.”
“We have sacrificed to be able to support our children through college, even if they get a good job it will still take them a very long time to pay it all back.”
Since the last finical crash, many peoples personal finances have not recovered, while costs have increased wages haven’t so many young people, the millennials are heading or started out in a very different landscape to the previous generation. They have to be more financially savvy, they have to be prepared to work harder and they also have to look to getting organised and save for their future, far sooner than other generations.
So it’s no surprise that many people are looking at their expenses and seeing what they can cut out or cut down.
