MW 'I worked at 14, had an 8.8% mortgage rate and drove used cars': Did boomers really have it easier than millennials?

By Quentin Fottrell

'We were frugal, using coupons, discount stores, shopping during the sales and eating leftovers,' one baby-boomer reader writes.

Did boomers or millennials work hard and appreciate the value of a dime? Or can both of these things be true?

This Moneyist reader and baby boomer appears to have had enough with perceived millennial ennui. "I'm tired of hearing that boomers had it easy or that boomers' wealth is due to luck," he wrote. "Here's a reality check: I'm a 69-year-old boomer working since age 14 as a babysitter. Then I earned $1.59 an hour the summer after high school. I lived at home, went to community college, worked part time all through college and transferred to a four-year college."

"I got a job, married and worked," he added. "I raised two children, paid for private-school tuition because my husband and I both worked. I bought a small home with an interest rate of 8.8%. I was laid off in 2007 due to the recession. I retrained and kept working, and I'm still working part time at 69. We were frugal, using coupons, visiting discount stores, shopping during sales and eating leftovers. We are hardworking people who have trust in God. Boomers live simply."

When the Great Recession hit, older boomers were preparing to retire while millennials were entering the workforce.

Boomers have had to work hard for what they have, it's true. So have millennials. Each generation tends to compare itself with the ones that came before and after, and not always with the greatest accuracy. Generation X was known as the "slacker generation," even though, arguably, they worked as hard as everyone else. When the Great Recession hit, the oldest boomers were preparing for retirement while millions of millennials were preparing to enter the workforce; neither situation was welcome or ideal.

Generation X and boomers may look down at millennials and Gen Z, singling out the younger workers' desire for a healthier/happier work-life balance. The elders may say it's easier now because of their ability to work at home with a hot-water bottle, a laptop, iPhone $(AAPL)$ and a blanket. Technology, the pandemic and the demand of certain skilled labor during the pandemic led to changes in the workplace, which will hopefully benefit future generations too.

Extreme couponing, which experienced its last hurrah in the days after the Great Recession, has fallen by the wayside. People don't spend hours clipping coupons out of newspapers and, instead, rely on credit-card points and store loyalty programs at places like Target (TGT) and Walmart $(WMT)$. The used-car market has actually expanded in the last several decades due to the high price of new models, the fact that cars last longer, and the wide variety of models.

House prices and interest rates

Salaries, arguably, went further in 1995 than in 2005. Houses were less expensive, there were more of them for sale (even without adjusting for the larger U.S. population) and people had to take out less debt relative to their income to afford them. The median cost of a U.S. home was around $115,000 (or $230,000 adjusting for inflation) in 1995 versus $445,000 today. The debt-to-income ratio is more than 40% compared with 20% in 1995.

The National Association of Realtors compared house affordability now versus then. In November 1995, their Housing Affordability Index was 126.9 (above 100 is more affordable), the qualifying income to purchase a home was $32,112 (the same buying power as roughly $66,000 when adjusting for inflation). Today, the NAR's housing affordability index is closer to 97; the qualifying income to purchase a home is nearly $104,000.

My eldest friend remembered the Great Depression and World War II. She never ate cod or oatmeal again.

"Those who were able to purchase a home in 1995 are markedly different from those today," the NAR says. In 1995, 42% of home buyers were first-time buyers. That share has dropped to a historic low of 24%. First-time buyers were just 31 years old in 1995 compared with 38 years old today. "Buyers today have to save for longer periods while paying for debt that was not as common in 1995 - that is, student loans." (The latter have hit $1.7 trillion.)

In fact, the median sale price for a single-family home in the U.S. was 3 times higher than the median household income throughout the 1990s, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University; today, it's 5.5 times. That's higher than at any point on record dating back to the early 1970s. Home prices have risen significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, and remain persistently high, despite 30-year fixed mortgage rates of 6.7%.

"High price-to-income ratios are an especially worrying indicator of deteriorating homebuyer affordability," it adds. "Record-low mortgage rates during the pandemic cushioned the impact of higher home prices by keeping mortgage payments relatively modest, but interest rates rose significantly throughout 2022 and have remained elevated since." But if you tried buying a house in the 1980s? Good luck: the 30-year fixed rate peaked at 18.4% in October 1981.

The importance of perspective

Comparing ourselves with previous or future generations would merely play tit-for-tat over who had it rougher. My eldest friend was born in 1925 and died at 100 in June. She was a member of the Greatest Generation. She never made me feel like I had it easier and I can honestly say she never complained. She did remember the Great Depression and World War II, however. She never ate cod or oatmeal again. You can listen to some of her thoughts here.

People are, rightly or wrongly, triggered by different age groups playing the "you had it easy" game with each other. It's usually a mistake to come to conclusions about somebody else's lived experience purely based on your own. As one Gen Xer wrote on the Moneyist Facebook Group (META): "I worked 60 hours a week at two jobs to pay for an EMT certification. When I started working, I made $9/hour. In 2010, I made $11/hour working at a children's emergency room."

It's usually a mistake to come to conclusions about somebody else's lived experience purely based on your own.

"You think millennials are entitled?" the same poster asked. "Six months after I had my son my husband was laid off from his job that he had for 20 years. Daycare is $17,000 a year for one child. Both of my parents work full time and we have no other choice for child care. Your mortgage may have been 8%, but so was ours, and our housing costs are astronomical compared to when you bought your house."

Everyone has a different perspective on their own life and what it took to get them to where they are now - everything from buying used cars and driving them for 15 years to packing your own lunch instead of dining out. Camping vacations are just as fun as staying in a five-star hotel, and plaudits for anyone who is free to wear relatively inexpensive clothing and not being sucked into the status-conscious fashion.

If you really want perspective on our lives, look at the Lost Generation; they should make boomers, millennials and Generation X and Z grateful to be here. Born between 1883 and 1900, they came of age at the turn of the 20th Century, and dealt with the horrors of the First World War and 1918 flu. Like my 100-year-old friend, many also lived through the Great Depression. As if they didn't have enough to deal with, World War II would only be around the corner.

That's what I call a reality check. We all had it easy compared to that.

Related: 'The sky has not fallen - yet': Is it time to start worrying about a recession?

You can email The Moneyist with any financial and ethical questions at qfottrell@marketwatch.com, and follow Quentin Fottrell on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The Moneyist regrets he cannot reply to questions individually.

More columns from Quentin Fottrell:

'My retirement is going to be a disaster': I'm 59 and have $45,000 in my 401(k). I earn $72,000. Am I doomed?

I have early Alzheimer's and my husband has stage 4 kidney disease. We just inherited $50K. How can this help us?

'I have Type 1 diabetes': I'm 64 with a $1.3 million 401(k). Is it too late for long-term-care insurance?

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-Quentin Fottrell

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August 02, 2025 07:03 ET (11:03 GMT)

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