Nearly 52 percent of millennials - those aged 18 to 34 - have less than $1,000 in savings, according to a new survey by the cost information website HowMuch.net.
The online poll, conducted among 2,556 people by Google Consumer Surveys from Nov. 24-26, found the following:
- 51.8 percent of Millennials have less than $1,000 in savings.
- 18 percent of Millennials have savings of $1,000 to $5,000.
- 7.3 percent of Millennials have savings of $5,000 to $10,000.
- 6.4 percent of Millennials have savings of $10,000 to $20,000.
- 16.5 percent of Millennials have savings of more than $20,000.
When broken down by the income of the survey participant, HowMuch found that the level of income correlated with the amount of savings.
Over 56 percent of millennials who earned between $25,000 and $49,000 per year had less than 1,000 in savings, compared to 31.2 percent of those who made $75,000-$99,000 a year. Around 50 percent of millennials with incomes over $150,000 per year had savings of more than $20,000.
The survey also found that males seemed to be better savers than females, with 56.7 percent of females saying they had less than $1,000 saved, compared to 46.5 percent of males. On the upper end of the spectrum, 21.5 percent of males said they had more than $20,000 saved, while only 11.9 percent of females said the same.
And while the results seem rather concerning for millennials, who are often written off as lazy and irresponsible, another recent survey by the Consumer Federation of America found that millennials may actually be making more progress than most other age groups in terms of savings, the exception being those aged 45 to 54.
The survey, released in February, found that 56 percent of millennials reported saving at least five percent of their income in 2014, compared to 52 percent of Americans overall. That's up six percent from the previous year, reported Bloomberg.
Shortly after the survey was released, Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen explained how top economists are still trying to decipher the behavior of millennials, who are projected to number 75.3 million this year, surpassing the projected 74.9 million baby boomers.
"I think we're just beginning to understand how the millennials are behaving," Yellen said before the Senate Banking Committee, according to CNN. "They're certainly waiting longer to buy houses; to get married. They have a lot of student debt. They seem quite worried about housing as an investment. They've had a tough time in the job market."
