Millennials Still Need Their Parents to Cover Their Bills. Who’s to Blame?

If your child graduated college and still needs your money to make ends meet, is it their fault? Your fault? Or everyone’s fault?

I don’t know. I do know that a new Harris Poll shows “more than half of Millennials (53%) are not fully financially independent from their parents.” Even more concerning, “The average age Americans now expect to achieve financial independence is 37.”

Every generation believes subsequent generations don't work as hard as they did. In the first century BC, the Roman poet Horace wrote, “The beardless youth does not foresee what is useful, squandering his money." Some things never change.

Other things change a lot. Millennials are now 29 to 44 years old, which means the oldest entered the workforce during the Great Recession and the youngest did the same during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s a rare one-two punch for any generation.

With 74 million Millennials – the largest living generation – it’s impossible to discuss their financial health without it affecting the rest of us.

What all generations can agree on

This Harris Poll surveyed over 4,300 adults of all ages, and more than half agreed on only one thing: 56% say it's harder to become financially independent today than in previous generations. Even two-thirds of Baby Boomers agreed with that.

The three main reasons come down to:

• Inflation – it was worse in 2022, when it hit 8%, the highest since 1981. But it’s still 4.2%, and the sheer length of this inflationary period is chewing up savings for all generations. But Millennials are supposed to be in their prime earning years.
• Student loans – Americans owe more on their student loans ($1.87 trillion) than they do on their credit cards ($1.25 trillion). Previous generations faced nothing like this. Since 2000, the cost of a college education has doubled. 
• Housing costs – Talk about historic price hikes. Since the pandemic, home prices have skyrocketed by the biggest percentage since the late 1970s. 

Then again, these cascading crises might not entirely be to blame for Millennials’ financial struggles.

What all generations can do

Every adult makes decisions that they're ultimately responsible for. Millennials are no exception.

They were born between 1981 and 1996, which means they were the first generation to grow up with the internet – and that’s where you can readily find financial advice and even financial solutions to your financial problems.

In other words, unlike their predecessors, Millennials had the easiest access to debt relief. They still do. That’s why Debt.com exists. It doesn’t get simpler than typing or tapping a four-letter URL and finding out in minutes how much you really owe and what you can do about it.

Millennials should do this today, and not only for themselves. Parents benefit when their children become financially self-sufficient. They get a little more money for themselves, and a lot more peace of mind that their children will thrive even after they’re gone – and that’s what every generation wants.