MassMutual Sees Crisis Hitting Younger Adults Harder

What You Need to Know

Younger adults are the most likely to report a loss of income.
They're more likely to be getting help from friends and relatives.
They're also more likely to be giving help to friends and families.

The COVID-19 crisis may be affecting U.S. adults under the age of 40 more severely than it’s affecting U.S. adults ages 40 and older.

About 84% of millennials and members of “Generation Z” say the COVID-19 pandemic and pandemic response have caused a significant impact on their finances.

Only about 75% of members of Generation X, and 65% of the baby boomers, say the crisis has had a big effect on their finances.

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company has reported those findings in a summary of results from a survey of about 1,000 U.S. adults that was conducted from Feb. 19 through March 31.

Generational Definitions

Baby boomers are people born in 1946 to 1964. The youngest boomers are turning 57 this year.

Members of Generation X were born from 1965 through 1980. The youngest GenXers are turning 40 this year

Millennials were born from 1981 through 1996, and members of Generation Z, or “zoomers,” were born from 1997 through 2009.

The youngest millennials are turning 25 this year.

Stress Indicators

About 25% of the millennials and zoomers said they’re now having trouble with day-to-day expenses, compared with 19% of the GenXers and 9% of the boomers.

Twenty percent of the survey participants in the younger two age groups said they’ve had to adjust their lifestyles to keep costs down, compared with just 14% of the GenXers and 7% of the boomers.

Interfamily Transfers

About 20% of the millennials and zoomers said they are getting at least some financial help from their loved ones. They were much more likely to be getting help from loved ones than the older survey participants.

Only 15% of the GenXers and 6% of the boomers said they’re getting financial help from loved ones.

But the millennials and zoomers were also more likely to report providing help to loved ones.

Here’s a look at the percentage of survey participants in different age groups who said they have been giving money to family members and other loved ones: