Afford Anything · Friday, July 31, 2026
Beth Kobliner, a personal finance expert who has covered money for 30 years, states that current young adults (18-34) are experiencing the worst economic outlook since tracking began in 1978, even worse than during the Great Recession and the pandemic. This pessimism is attributed to factors such as increased difficulty in finding jobs compared to previous generations and the high cost of living, including a median home price of $430,000.
“I have to say that this generation, today's people in their 20s and early 30s, have it harder than any generation that I've written about.”
“I looked at the University of Michigan has the consumer sentiment index and the outlook among young people, 18 to 34 year olds, is the worst it's ever been since they've been tracking this since 1978.”
“So when you dig into the numbers, generally speaking, unemployment may look okay, but the unemployment rate for young people is really at a dramatically flipped negative situation for young people expecting to get jobs.”