--- description: The latest Census numbers show Americans 18 to 34 struggling financially title: 4 Ways Millennials Have It Worse Than Their Parents Did image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52afcf3021e27318/69876cb4428a9e9803cc5d20/millenial-money.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Demographics](/tag/demographics/) ## Demographics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 4 Ways Millennials Have It Worse Than Their Parents by [Josh Sanburn](/author/josh-sanburn/) ## Josh Sanburn Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 4, 2014 5:53 PM CUT  Financial Icons 2 Financial Icons 2Adrian Samson—Getty Images by [Josh Sanburn](/author/josh-sanburn/) ## Josh Sanburn Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 4, 2014 5:53 PM CUT Millennials make less money, are more likely to live in poverty and have lower rates of employment than their parents did at their ages 20 and 30 years ago. That’s the bleak assessment from the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest American Community Survey numbers Thursday, which paint a financially disheartening portrait of Americans aged 18 to 34 who are still trying to rebound from the Great Recession. The survey largely shows that millennials are worse off than the same age group in 1980, 1990 and 2000 when looking at almost every major economic indicator: **1\. Median income** Millennials earned roughly $33,883 a year on average between 2009 and 2013 compared with $35,845 in 1980 and $37,355 in 2000 (all in 2013 inflation-adjusted dollars). (**MORE:** [American Women are Waiting to Have Kids](http://time.com/3617927/pregnancy-birthrates/ "undefined")) **2\. Leaving home** More than 30% of millennials live with at least one parent compared to about 23% in 1980, largely because they can’t get a job. **3\. Employment** Only about 65% of millennials are currently working compared with more than 70% in 1990 **4\. Poverty** Almost 20% live in poverty compared with about 14% in 1980. But it’s not all bad news. The new Census numbers show that young Americans are much more diverse and educated than previous generations. About 22% have a bachelor’s degree or higher (up from 16% in 1980), and a quarter have grown up speaking a language other than English at home (up from 10% in 1980). And possibly the most interesting statistic in the new numbers? A little over 2% of those aged 18 to 34 are veterans, compared with almost 10% in 1980. _Read next:_ [_Millennials Are Mooches…and Other Money Myths_](http://time.com/money/3549475/mooching-millennials-money-myths/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3618322/census-millennials-poverty-unemployment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3618322/census-millennials-poverty-unemployment/"},"headline":"4 Ways Millennials Have It Worse Than Their Parents","datePublished":"2014-12-04T17:53:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:34:59.037Z","description":"The latest Census numbers show Americans aged 18 to 34 struggling worse than their parents did in the '80s","url":"https://time.com/3618322/census-millennials-poverty-unemployment/","keywords":["Demographics","Millennials","Recession","Great Recession","Economy","Employment","poverty","Unemployment","Census","income"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52afcf3021e27318/69876cb4428a9e9803cc5d20/millenial-money.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Josh Sanburn","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/josh-sanburn/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52afcf3021e27318/69876cb4428a9e9803cc5d20/millenial-money.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"millenial money","caption":"millenial money","creditText":"Adrian Samson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/demographics/","name":"Demographics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3618322/census-millennials-poverty-unemployment/","name":"4 Ways Millennials Have It Worse Than Their Parents"}}]}] ```