East Midlands shows biggest slip in living standards from previous generation

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/aug/29/east-midlands-shows-biggest-slip-in-living-standards-from-previous-generation

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Young adults in the east Midlands have seen their living standards fall the furthest behind the previous generation when compared with their peers elsewhere in Britain, according to a study.

At a time when millennials across the country are experiencing lacklustre gains in living standards compared with the generation before them, the Resolution Foundation said the region that includes Nottingham and Leicester had seen the biggest shortfall in earnings growth.

The thinktank said those in the region aged between 26 and 28 were earning about 2.7% less, adjusted for inflation, than people of their age were earning in 2003.

The analysis has found that generational progress on pay has been weak nationally, with those born in the late 1980s earning just 3% more at ages 26-28 than those born in the early 1970s at the same stage in life.

In stark contrast, those born in the early 1970s earned 16% more at the age of 28 than those born 15 years before them in the late 1950s.

While most regions had seen some improvement, millennials in the east midlands, south-east and London all earned less in their late 20s than the previous generation.

However, young people in the north–east have made considerable pay progress, with millennials earning 13% more at the age of 26-28 than those born 15 years earlier.

Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the research also showed that homeownership rates have collapsed for young adults across the country, while the amount of money millennials spend on housing as a share of their income has rocketed.

Amid concern across the political spectrum over the difficulty facing young adults in getting on the housing ladder, the research showed that the proportion of 26- to 28-year-olds who owned their own home had collapsed by half since 1997.

London recorded the biggest fall, with homeownership rates falling by 58%. Among 26- to 28-year-olds in the capital, as few as 8% own their home, compared with 20% for the same age group in 1997.

Across the country, the rate of homeownership has dropped from 33.5% to 17.2%.

Maja Gustafsson, researcher at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Millennials are generally earning and working more than the generation before – but there are exceptions, and the degree of generational progress varies enormously.”