The jinxed generation

The latest generation to enter the labour market is doing no better than those that came before, while living standards among people of retirement age are much higher than their forebears’, this interactive graphic of new FT research shows.

This chart shows the median disposable income of UK households, grouped by the age of the head of the household in ten-year cohorts. It is based on data from the Family Expenditure Survey and the Family Resources Survey that have been collected since the 1960s. These datasets, which underpin the government’s official poverty and inequality figures, containing household income information on over 730,000 households collected between 1961 and 2009-10.

The figures are adjusted to take account of family size and uprated to 2009-10 prices. The research underestimates the shift in prosperity towards older people in Britain because it takes no account of housing costs, which are higher for many young people.