NEW YORK—Just which generation is propping up the U.S. economy? According to a new report, it’s the nation’s oldest consumers are spending more.
“A big factor in the recent spending patterns is Social Security,” said MarketWatch, adding that it is still uncertain if the country is headed toward a recession.
Consumer households from their 20s to their 50s are now spending “sharply less” on their credit and debit cards than they were a year ago, according to a Bank of America, study, MarketWatch noted.
“At this point it's mostly those over 60, and especially those over 80, who are still propping up the economy. Call it a ‘youth-cession,’" the report added.
The oldest generation of Americans, also known as the Silent Generation, spent 5% more on their cards in the last month than they did during the same period a year ago.
Spending by Generation
The so-called Silent Generation is those born before 1946, meaning they are now 78 or older. For the generation behind them, the Baby Boomers, spending rose as well, but only by some 2%. Meanwhile Generation X, Millennials and Gen Z are spending about 2% less than a year ago, while spending among those in Gen X has actually been negative when compared with one year earlier, according to the report.
You Can Now Get CUToday.info’s Daily News Headlines in Your Mailbox at the Low, Low Price of Free
Are you missing out on the latest news in credit unions? Missing the trends and developments you need to be aware of? We can help. Each morning CUToday.info delivers its daily Fresh Today news update offering the latest headlines and breaking news right to your email, with the easy-to-read headlines format allowing you to click on the stories that interest you most in order to learn more.
And it’s free!
If you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time—and it’s free!
Please note that after signing up you may need to go to your Spam/Junk folder and mark the morning headlines email as safe. CUToday.info does not provide its list of readers and emails to outside parties, and we will not be contacting you to sell you an extended warranty or sending you any links so you may cash in on an inheritance you didn’t know was coming.
And did we mention it’s free?
Please note and/or make your IT department or email administrator aware the emails will be coming from the domains CUTodayinfo.com and CUTodayinfoReply.com.