Americans under 35 saw their median net worth fall 23% between 2022 and 2025, while the median for people 75 and older climbed 37%, according to a new Federal Reserve report.
The Fed’s 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances shows why the national picture can be misleading. Median family net worth increased 2% to nearly $216,000 during the period, but the median for under-35 respondents ended near $33,000. For respondents 75 or older, it reached about $504,900.
Other age groups posted mixed results. Median net worth dropped 6% among people ages 45 to 54 and 4% among those 65 to 74. It rose 5% for ages 35 to 44 and 3% for ages 55 to 64. That uneven pattern makes the modest overall family increase look very different from one generation to another.
Stock-market participation may help explain part of the split. The share of respondents invested in the market slipped from 58% in 2022 to 56% in 2025, a decline the report largely linked to people outside the top 10% of earners. Yet the S&P 500 climbed 78% from 2023 through 2025, according to The Motley Fool.
A separate study from BC Game, described as a crypto casino, said median costs for used cars, college, housing, weddings and child care grew faster than wages from 1985 through 2026. Those pressures help explain why a higher overall net worth does not necessarily feel like greater security for every household.
The comment request drew no immediate response from the White House. The Federal Reserve offered no information beyond what appears in the report.
Why It Matters
The main significance is that a healthy-looking overall median can conceal very different household realities. A person entering adulthood with less net worth has less room to handle rising costs, build savings, or benefit from market gains. Older households with more assets may experience the same economy very differently. That gap affects families across generations, not only the people whose balances changed in the survey.
The market figures add another layer. The report points to lower participation outside the highest-income group while stocks advanced, but it does not prove that market access explains every age-based change. It also does not settle how much of the divide comes from housing, education, childcare, vehicles, or other expenses. Those limits matter because the data shows the outcome more clearly than it identifies one complete cause.
That uncertainty makes the political reaction important. Economic frustration can push people to question the system without giving them a settled replacement, which helps explain why changes in attitudes should not be read as a simple ideological verdict. The open question is whether leaders can make wealth building and basic affordability feel attainable for younger Americans, while addressing the concerns of households in other age groups. Until that becomes clearer, the wealth divide remains both an economic problem and a political pressure point.
The findings emerged as Democrats and Republicans focused on affordability ahead of November’s midterm elections, with younger Americans’ economic frustration potentially affecting which party wins a majority in the next Congress.
A CBS News poll published Sept. 24 found that support for capitalism among Americans under 30 fell from 52% to 48% since 2018. It also put support for socialism at 21%, up from 19%. Micah Roberts, a Public Opinion Strategies pollster, said the apparent increase in support for the Democratic Socialists of America’s agenda reflected frustration with the status quo.
Source: The Liberty Daily
