Reply #24: Who's Had the Worst Recession: Boomers, Millennials, or Gen-Xers?

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http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/09/whos-had-the-worst-recession-boomers-millennials-or-gen-xers/245056/

The Millennial generation got hit hardest by the Great Recession. You might have heard this, over and over, especially if you read The Atlantic or happen to have asked somebody from the Millennial generation. Downturns like this one change the course of a lifetime for college graduates, as low starting salaries snowball into a lifetime of depressed wages, slim pensions, and even shorter lifespans.

Hogwash! a Boomer might retort. Even if they have narrower prospects, Millennials have their whole lives to make back lost wages. When the stock market tumbled and housing prices collapsed, couples near retirement lost their nest eggs at the very moment that they were looking to step out of the workforce. Surely, they suffered the most from the timing of this recession.

Oh, come on! a Gen-Xer might respond, we got the worst of both worlds. The 46 million Americans between the age of 33 and 46 reached the prime of their working years only to find salaries depressed by a bad economy and promotions suppressed by lingering Boomers.

This is a debate without a winner, and we're not going to name one. Instead, we're want to look across three categories -- employment, income, and overall wealth outlook -- and argue on behalf of each generation that their cohort got it worst.