“Not your Grandfather’s Recession”

New survey data, just released in the US, finds that it is a good time to be over 65 or younger than 30 – but not such a great time to be somewhere in the middle.

The New York Times today reported data from the Pew Research Center which finds that senior citizens have generally been protected from the effects of the recession in the US, as have younger adults.

“The most vivid finding to emerge from this survey is that older Americans — most of whom have already retired and downsized their lifestyles — have been far better insulated from the current storm than those who need to worry about keeping their jobs and building up diminished retirement accounts,” write Rich Morin and Paul Taylor of Pew Research in their report “Not your Grandfather’s Recession – Literally.”

This finding holds true in Canada, as well. Recently-released consumer data from ad agency Bensimon Byrne (in their quarterly Consumerology report) show that while a national “culture of thrift” has emerged for Canadians, the effects of the recession actually vary markedly for different groups. In particular, the young, the affluent and seniors say they relate to current economic conditions more like a “bump in the road” than a lasting interruption of their standards of living.

In contrast, the Canadians who say they have been most severely affected by the recession include women, residents of British Columbia, and Canadians over age 35. Women and people between the ages of 25 and 44 have some of the largest debt loads – these are the people that are most likely to say they now need to change their spending and saving behaviour for the foreseeable future.

The New York Times article notes that if today’s workers who are 10 – 15 years away from retirement end up working longer, people now in their 30s and 40s could find themselves facing more competition for jobs and promotions - meaning the negative effects of this recession may trickle down to younger groups. The article concludes that “even if the recession does end this year, as the more optimistic economists forecast, the effects of it could be felt for years to come.”

Over here, one of the results from this latest downturn is that our sense of the relative well-being of different groups in Canadian society may shift. The image of the “wealthy Boomer” may need to be retired – no pun intended.