Incomes of young in 8-year nose dive

USA Today

INCOME SHIFTS

Change in median income from 2000-08 (in 2008 dollars):

Age	Men	Women
15-24	-9.7%	-3.3%
25-34	-11.7%	-2.9%
35-44	-6.8%	-0.8%
45-54	-11.2%	-4.8%
55-64	-2.3%	20.6%
65-74	8%	8.7%
75+	1.9%	3.5%

Source: Census Bureau

By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY

The incomes of the young and middle-aged — especially men — have fallen off a cliff since 2000, leaving many age groups poorer than they were even in the 1970s, a USA TODAY analysis of new Census data found.

People 54 or younger are losing ground financially at an unprecedented rate in this recession, widening a gap between young and old that had been expanding for years.

While the young have lost ground, older people have grown more prosperous over the years and the decades. Older women have done best of all.

The dividing line between those getting richer or poorer: the year 1955. If you were born before that, you're part of a generation enjoying a four-decade run of historic income growth. Every generation after that is now sinking economically.

(More here.)