Millennials Earn 20 Percent Less Than Baby Boomers Did -- Despite Being Better Educated

A study from the nonprofit New America think tank found millennial employees are earning 20 percent less than baby boomers did at the same time of life, despite being better educated, reports CNBC . Median earnings for millennials have fallen since the 1980s, with the Great Recession and growth in contract and freelance positions having made modern salaries less predictable. The Pew Research Center estimated that almost 40 percent of millennials 25 to 37 have at least a bachelor's degree, versus 25 percent of boomers and 30 percent of Generation X at the same age. Reduced income levels are already affecting millennials' wealth accumulation in the long term, and New America reported the average millennial's wealth in 2016 was 41 percent lower than those who were at a similar age in 1989. Moreover, households headed by someone under 35 in 2016 had an average net worth of $10,900, or $8,000 less than compared to 1995. People hired after the recession also had fewer job opportunities, lower wages, and higher student loan and personal debt rates. "Even as the economy steadily added back jobs lost, the protracted recovery was experienced unevenly, with well-off households doing better at the expense of others," added New America's Reid Cramer.