The generational divide behind Australia's cost of living split | The Business | ABC News
The generation divide in Australian households is deepening.
Data from seven million Commonwealth Bank customers shows Millennials and Gen Zers are spending below inflation or drastically cutting back to cope with the higher cost of living.
Meanwhile, boomers, who've paid off their homes and enjoy returns from savings or superannuation, are benefitting from higher interest rates.
Even with inflation, those aged 60 and above, are spending more than the rate at which prices have increased.
The economic pain is being felt unevenly, with younger people paying more on rents and mortgage interest payments, which have rocketed in the past two years as the Reserve Bank has rapidly hiked rates to fight inflation.
But it might not be as simple as one generation doing well and others doing badly.
Independent economist Nicki Hutley says, "you can't blame the boomers, as so many people like to do."
She says the increase in spending is larger for boomers than it is for young people, but as a total amount, it's less than it is for those in their middle ages, who still have mortgages and school costs from children living at home.
The generational split in income and the ability to spend won't change until either wages rise, interest rates fall, or both.
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