Do we Millennials/Gen Z have it economically harder than our Gen X/Boomer parents?

[caryann8514]

I'm in my late 20s coming from a top 3 Uni. I worked pretty good jobs in Banking & Finance.

Most of my batchmates have yet to achieve "mainstream" financial and life milestones that our parents have achieved at around our age.

By "mainstream" milestones I mean, having your own, house, car/s, and family with kids.

I have a handful of batchmates who've achieved one or two of these, but the majority haven't.

The only select few that I know, who have achieved all 3, come from very wealthy business families a.k.a. they're set for life because of mom & dad's wealth & large family businesses.

Truth be told most students from the Big 3 come from middle to upper-middle class families - parents are either high-earning professionals or small/medium business owners. But very few are really rich.

Having said that, most of us have yet to achieve most/all of said major milestones in life. Whereas our parents got married, had their 1st house, and car by their mid/late 20s. My parents have, and they came from more modest backgrounds and careers.

Now I hear that in the US, the economy, the real estate market, and the cost of living is really harder for the young folks than the older ones, hence why most of them can't afford housing/raising a family either. Cost of housing and real estate have gone up much faster than incomes over the decades.

I haven't looked at the hard data, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is the case for the Philippines, and probably worse tbh.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[resjudicata]

@caryann8514 For comparison

Lolo ko: security guard, part time farmer. Naka bili ng 3 lupa sa Cavite. Married and 4 kids

Tatay ko: Ofw, nakabili ng 2 bedroom house sa subdivision. has 6 kids

Ako: licensed professional government employee. Pag nagbayad na ng basic needs halos wala na matira. I dont even know kung makakabili ako ng bahay sa sahod ko at kung makakapag asawa paba ako

 

[levi88]

@resjudicata OMG, my lolo was a fisherman and had sixteen kids! Ako isang licensed engineer at isa lang anak ko, namomoblema na ng pang tuition sa kinder..haha

 

[gingerine]

@resjudicata Mura pa lupa before AFAIK. Dati pwede ka lang magbakod tapos patitulohan na. Around 80's nakabili kami ng 200sqm house and lot with 2 apartments included for Php80K na nagkakahalaga na ng Php5M sa ngayon.

 

[october12]

@gingerine Yes quite common to own land since we have homesteading until the 90's. In the hinterland of provinces, you can homestead land by the hectare.

Land was incredibly cheap up until the 90's. You can purchase agricultural lands here in Negros Occidental for as low as 20 to 50k per ha. back then. This was a big regret of my father.

 

[throwawaymana]

@gingerine Dati kasi hindi iniisip as investment ang lupa ng karamihan. More on titirhan talaga or gagawing farm. Ngayon kasi ginawang investment vehicle na tapos todo palobo ng mga developers at land owners ng price.

There will come a point na 99.9% ng Pilipino d na afford bumili ng kahit anong lupa at bahay. Too much greed na kung ganun.

 

[micahinitiative]

@throwawaymana Sana magka property bubble

 

[chansondautomne]

@micahinitiative lol be careful what you wish for

 

[warrior1]

@chansondautomne Ano yung property bubble?

 

[micahinitiative]

@chansondautomne I really wish and pray it for to happen

 

[ali89]

@throwawaymana I wonder kung ano yung mga bagay na tinatake for granted natin ngayon pero magiging valuable sa future tulad ng lupa at mga parents natin.

 

[dachshund22]

@ali89 water, parks, electricity

 

[musicismyreligion]

@gingerine 80k then is probably worth millions now due to inflation. How'd you earn 80k then?

 

[gingerine]

@musicismyreligion Hi. My dad was working on SRF before on US Naval Base.

 

[mscorley]

@resjudicata This is really true! The quality of living here in PH is getting more expensive.

 

[greatdanemom]

@resjudicata Just to poke a hole in your story, survivorship bias is very strong with these kinds of questions and a single anecdote won’t really paint a full picture.

My grandparents were full-time farmers with small parcels of land in the province. They had 8 kids who they managed to get through college and landed lucrative jobs as OFWs. Things were definitely much better for us now that them. The land my grandparents owned now lay idle because they’re in the hinterlands. The selling price would barely even break 1 million.

Here’s the bigger picture: More than 60 years ago, half of Filipino families lived on less than P1k a year. 66% of that went to food and was barely enough to afford college education.

 

[desertsun236]

@greatdanemom Tama... We have the same situation. My father lived thru WW2 as a kid..only finished HS but was able to make sure all of us finished college by working as a cook. I started working part time in grade school. What I have now was because of the education given to me by my parents.

 

[musicismyreligion]

@greatdanemom Akala nya sa pamilya nila umiikot yung mundo haha

 

[soosh98]

@resjudicata

Mura pa lupa before AFAIK. Dati pwede ka lang magbakod tapos patitulohan na. Around 80's nakabili kami ng 200sqm house and lot with 2 apartments included for Php80K na nagkakahalaga na ng Php5M sa ngayon.

Di sila nag babayad ng Internet noon, wlang cellphone, limited ang eatout, walang GCash, at iba pang possible reasons to spend.

 

[thetruthbeareth1985]

@resjudicata Kaya di ko magets yung mga nag ibang bansa na nagrereklamo sa cost of living sa ibang bansa kasi same problem sa pinas unless yung trabaho mo is 150k per month.