Our recent survey on working millennials across five countries revealed strong generation envy in those between the ages of 18 and 35 years. In the ‘Millennials: Work, Life & Satisfaction’ study, asked to compare their own situations with those of their parents, around 50 percent in the United States and the UK said they believed their parents were in a better financial position at the same age. This belief was stronger among those with families.
The Allianz survey interviewed 1,000 employed people in China, Germany, India, the UK and the U.S.1. What emerged in all five countries is a clear impression that millennials believe they have lost out in comparison to the benefits enjoyed by their parents’ generation.
For example, social benefits such as health insurance and retirement benefits. Over 40 percent of the respondents (39 percent in China) believe that social benefits have declined since their parents’ time (around 30 percent felt they were unchanged). The feeling was the strongest in the U.S., where 62 percent believed this was the case. Sixty percent or more in all countries, excluding China (43 percent), agree or mostly agree that job security has also weakened. Again, the feeling was the strongest among Americans (64 percent), followed by Germans (63 percent) and Indians (60 percent). In the U.S. (64 percent) and the UK (60 percent), there was also a strong feeling that economic prospects have deteriorated, while 52 percent of Indian millennials held the same opinion.