Department of Data

What’s behind the sudden surge in young Americans’ wealth?

In 2019, young Americans lagged far behind where their older siblings and parents had been at their age. By 2022, they’d suddenly shot into the lead. What happened?

8 min
Young homeowners, Gabrielle Smychynsky and Wes White, take their dogs for a walk their neighborhood. (Madeline Gray/For The Washington Post)
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You’ve probably seen the memes: “Me in my 30s” versus “my parents in their 30s.”

The parents appear as a young couple discussing whether to have their third child or buy a “lovely second home for our family to winter in” and hoping the garage can fit both their cars and their snowmobiles. Fast forward to one of those offspring, now also in his 30s, wondering whether he’ll ever recover financially from buying both milk and bread at the same time.