This is because housing costs rose rapidly before the crisis, and because the collapse of both home ownership and social housing for the young have increasingly left them in the highest-cost private-rented sector.įinally, rapid wealth increases mean older households can increasingly draw on their assets to support their day-to-day spending, especially since new freedoms introduced in 2015 have opened up access to pension pots. This consumption divergence also reflects that younger families are spending a higher share of their income on housing. The highest-cost private-rented sector the collapse of both home ownership and social housing for the young have increasingly left them in the highest-cost private-rented sector (Photo: Getty Images) This is due to the youth-focused pay squeeze following the financial crisis, and billions of pounds of welfare cuts for working-age families. What explains this ‘consumption crunch’ for the young, and flurry of fun activities for the old? Partly, they reflect that young adults’ incomes have performed more poorly than pensioner incomes over the last two decades. The other spending shift that has taken place since the turn of the century has been on transport – down £10 a week for young people, but up for older age groups. Young people today are spending less in cash terms on alcohol and tobacco, down £4 to £10 a week, while pensioner spending is up £2 to £11 a week. Our analysis also highlights wider societal trends. As an organisation that strives to raise living standards, it’s great to see what higher income means for people in terms of spending more on the fun things in life. Instead, the new culture vultures are those aged 65 and over, who are now spending an extra £42 a week on these fun goods and activities. This is a far cry from how young people today are normally portrayed.Ħ5 and over spend an extra £42 on recreation Young people today are spending less in cash terms on alcohol and tobacco, down £4 to £10 a week (Pexels) Millennials’ consumption crunch has moved their spending away from experiences, and towards necessities. But their spending on fun stuff like recreation (which includes streamed music and pets), cultural activities (like leisure classes and going to the cinema), restaurants, takeaways and hotels has fallen by £20 since the turn of the century. Within their lower spending envelope, under 30s are still putting £8 more per week towards essentials like food and fuel than in 2002. ‘Young people today are spending less in cash terms on alcohol and tobacco, down £4 to £10 a week’ For young adults to actually be spending less than they were nearly two decades ago is a truly worrying outcome.īeyond people’s overall spending power, we can also shine further light on how living standards are changing. But on the flipside, the typical person aged under 30 spent £380 per week on non-housing items – that’s £28 a week less than at the turn of the century. The good news is the typical pensioner spent around £390 per week on items other than housing last year, a real-terms increase of £105 a week since 2002. Each person in the UK spent on average around £2 a week buying plants and flowers last year (Pic: Pexels/Element5) £380 per week on non housing items New analysis from the Resolution Foundation’s Intergenerational audit for the UK brings all this data together to show how spending power, and spending habits, have changed for different age groups over the 21st century.
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