Gen Z Americans are leaving their European cousins ​​in the dust

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The concept of generational theory is that people born at a certain time share similar experiences, which in turn create common feelings.

The “Greatest” and “Quiet” generations, born in the early decades of the 20th century, saw economic problems and global conflicts, which continue to produce sentiments that seek unchanged. Young children grew accustomed to growth and success, and continued to rely on a strong conservative approach.

It was a similar story for millennials, who came of age after the global financial crisis to be greeted by high unemployment, income growth of anemia, and ballooning house prices to budgetsto continue to win with power progressive politics.

Many analyzes and discourses treat millennials and Gen Z as close cousins, united in their struggle to achieve the success of earlier generations. But the validity of that choice depends a lot on where you look.

Millennials throughout the western world were actually experiencing a recession. From the US and Canada to Britain and western Europe, the cohort born in the mid-to-late 1980s lived its formative years against a backdrop of weak or stagnant income growth and low prices. of the owners of the houses.

Absolute upward mobility – the rate at which members of one generation earn more than their parents’ generation at the same age – has steadily declined. In America, by the time someone born in 1985 was 30 years old, their income was only a few percentage points higher than that of their parents at the same age, which is a far cry and a clear, clear success of more than 50 generations. 60% was made by those born in the 1950s.

On both sides of the Atlantic, the story of millennial malaise is no myth. They may go down as the most unlucky generation of the last century.

But then we hit a fork in the road. For young adults in Britain and much of Western Europe, the situation has worsened since then. If you thought the less than 1 percent annual growth in living standards endured by millennials was bad, try sub-zero. Britons born in the mid-1990s have seen living standards not only stagnate but decline. Well across Europe, there’s a little something important for young adults to be happy about.

But in America, Gen Z is moving on. Living standards in the US have increased by an average of 2.5 percent per year since the cohort born in the late 1990s entered adulthood, blessing this generation not only with higher mobility than its elders they are millennials, but with living standards that have improved faster than the boomers did. at the same age. And it’s not just incomes: Gen Z Americans are also outpacing millennials in climbing the housing ladder.

All indications are that in the US, the decades-long decline in generational economic progress has not only stopped but reversed. Americans born in 1995 enjoy more when their parents go higher than those born in 1965. Zoomers by name, zoomers by economic and social nature.

The changing socioeconomic status of American youth and the diversity of their European counterparts both raise interesting questions.

From a social point of view, in the age of unlimited social media reports and solutions that reward inattentioncan the crisis meme of adulthood survive to meet the reality of Gen Z America? And with a series of negative social comparisons only a smartphone away, how will the growing awareness that American youth are on the rise affect European youth?

When we turn to politics, will a small group of American voters walk away? The fact that it was not only the youngest men but also young women who turned behind Donald Trump in the US elections suggests that this may be the case. A group that identifies itself as one of the winners of life may not develop the same social cohesion that its downtrodden predecessors had.

In the era of “changes in vibe”, the “pivot” from a downward spiral to one of increasing success may be the greatest ever. The diversity of musical ideas on both sides of the Atlantic will also add a new dimension to Europe’s quest to find its uptick.

No matter how you look at it, the restart of America’s economic supply chain could be a very important moment.

john.burn-murdoch@ft.com, @jburnmurdoch