‘They’re not having kids’: NYU professor Scott Galloway says young Americans are struggling and ‘have every reason to be enraged.’ Do you agree?
We often hope that each generation will achieve greater success and well-being than the one before, viewing this progression as a hallmark of societal advancement.
However, Scott Galloway, professor of marketing at NYU Stern School of Business, highlights a troubling shift: not all young adults are managing to surpass their parents' economic standing.
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In a recent interview with MSNBC, Galloway discussed the current challenges facing young adults, remarking, “For the first time in our nation's history, a 30-year-old man or woman isn't doing as well as his or her parents were at 30, that is the social compact breaking down.”
According to a 2016 study from Harvard-based research initiative Opportunity Insights, over 90% of children born in the 1940s grew up to earn more than their parents at age 30. However, for children born in the 1980s, only half managed to outearn their parents.
The study said that if we use the fraction of children who grow up to earn more than their parents as a measure of the American Dream, this trend essentially suggests that the American Dream “is fading.”
And this concerning trend extends beyond just income.
‘They’re not having kids’
Galloway, who was on the show to promote his new book, said the economy is "purposely" transferring money to the super rich from the other classes and from the young to the old. For instance, about the tax system he said: "Two biggest tax deductions — capital gains and mortgage interest. Who owns homes and stocks? People my age. Who rents and makes their money from current income? Young people."
He also noted that a significantly lower percentage of young people today are starting families compared to previous generations.
“People aged 30 to 34 — 60% of them in 1990 had one child. Now it's 27%,” he said. “People are opting out of America. They're not optimistic about it. They're not having kids. Young people aren't having sex. They're not meeting, and they're not mating. The pool of emotionally and economically viable men shrinks every day, which lessens household formation. So we have a real issue.”
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Galloway suggested that young people are so frustrated that every minor issue and movement becomes "an opportunistic infection," because they are “just pissed off.”
He points to wealth distribution as one factor contributing to young people's frustration.
“They look up, they see wealth, exceptional wealth across my generation and people in certain industries, and they are really struggling,” he said.
Although it's expected for wealth to accumulate with age, the disparity in wealth between older and younger generations is strikingly large.
Data from the Federal Reserve indicates that in Q4 of 2023, baby boomers held $76.17 trillion, representing 51.8% of the total wealth in America. In contrast, millennials possessed significantly less, with just $13.50 trillion, or 9.2% of the wealth share.
‘More anxious, more depressed’
One pressing issue for young people, according to Galloway, is housing.
He highlighted the rapid increase in housing prices, and the impact of economic policies that inflate asset values, like housing and stocks, during the COVID-19 pandemic. These actions, he argues, disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of the younger generation.
“Young people have every reason to be enraged. Every issue they see, they look up, they get angry and they see someone doing better than them and then every day it is speedballed in their face that they are failing, that they are not doing as well as everyone around them,” he said.
Housing has indeed become more expensive in America. According to the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the median sales price of houses sold in the U.S. was $327,100 in Q4 of 2019, prior to the pandemic. By Q4 of 2023, that figure had risen to $417,700.
Stocks have also seen substantial growth. Despite a sharp downturn in early 2020 due to the pandemic, the S&P 500 has climbed over 70% over the past five years, significantly increasing the wealth of stock market investors.
According to recent Fed data, the total net worth of the richest 1% in the U.S. hit a record $44.6 trillion at the end of last year. CNBC reported this figure has increased by nearly $15 trillion, or 49%, since 2020.
“We have lost the script,” Galloway remarked. “Our kids are more anxious and more depressed and more obese and more addicted. And we have made a purposeful decision to let this happen by ensuring the people around this table stay wealthy at the cost of young people.”
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
