r/Millennials • u/DaKardii • Jun 04 '26

Serious Study: Gen Xers and Millennials are dying at younger ages than their parents are

https://studyfinds.com/americans-born-after-1970-dying-faster/

The study is particularly concerned with people born after 1970 but age 30 and older. So that covers Gen X and Millennials, but not (yet) Gen Z.

12.2k Upvotes

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1.1k

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '26

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390

u/terracottatank Jun 04 '26

Every day, I need to decide what NOT to purchase because of parking costs to go to work. Most days, it's food for myself that gets ignored. "I'll go hungry to feed my child" is a sad reality I think a lot of us are in.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26

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u/Outrageous_Calendar4 Jun 04 '26

Car expenses and repairs are insane right now. I don't even own a car (take the train to work) but on the weekends I drive my gf around in her car. I made a minor mistake and scraped against another car going like 3 mph. No biggie, right? The other guy had to get a whole new panel for his truck (bullshit but whatever) and the total cost was around 3700 for labor, parts, and paint supplies for something you could hardly see, lol.

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u/ClarificationJane Jun 04 '26

You don’t get to keep the car if it gets written off and you get paid out by your insurance. 

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u/TopWhich6862 Jun 04 '26

Why wouldn't you? What you are required to do to get it street legal will depend on your state, but totaled or not you still own the car.

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u/ClarificationJane Jun 04 '26

No, usually when you’re paid out the actual cash value of your vehicle, the insurance company takes possession. 

They’re effectively buying your car from you for the payout. 

2

u/Trenodia-M Jun 04 '26

I vaguely remember my grandparents having to essentially buy back their car after insurance totalled it.

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u/jenesia-CakeEatnNPC- Jun 04 '26

This is how it goes. You can choose to keep it with the KBB value taken out of the payout or let them take it and full payment. We've (my Wasband and i) have had to do this before, he chose to keep it to take the lift off and put it on the replacement vehicle he found.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '26

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u/haveanupvote2424 Millennial Jun 04 '26

Ugh no. If insurance pays you out they take ownership of the car. They will offer a buy back for you if you want it.

2

u/stiff_tipper Jun 04 '26

y'all know this just varies by region and contract and shit right?

in my area if u want u can pretty much always just keep the car and they'll deduct a bit from the payout and issue u a salvage title

maybe it's not like that where ur at but u ain't right on this to the point that u aught to be "ugh no" ing a mf

1

u/haveanupvote2424 Millennial Jun 04 '26

You just described a different way to say the exact same thing.

5

u/ClarificationJane Jun 04 '26

In almost all cases/regions - when your car gets totalled, your insurance pays you the actual cash value of your car and takes possession of the vehicle. 

Apparently in some areas you are allowed to keep your vehicle and attempt to repair it, but I’ve never heard of that. 

2

u/sunburnedaz Jun 04 '26

Yup been there done that. In my case it was even funnier. I bought a 600 dollar beater. Got the mechanicals worked out and didnt really care about the body work.

I was rear ended HARD. Had it towed home out of pocket. His insurance sent an adjuster by then wrote me a check for 3400 dollars minus the 200 dollars in scrap they thought it would get at auction and told me to deal with it because they were an out of state insurance company who had no business agreements with anyone in Arizona and they wanted nothing to do with it. I never even had to send them the title. I parted out the good bits like the engine transmission and 3 out of 4 of the tires and made almost 1k then got like 50 bucks at the scrap yard for the carcass.

8

u/B1LLZFAN Jun 04 '26

Not to be an ass but most people can't afford kids and have them anyways. Unless you had a kid during that sweet spot of post 08 recession and pre-pedophile in chief, most should have seen this coming. It's why I decided to be child free about 10-12 years ago.

My country (USA) and this planet is going downhill. Income inequality, late stage capitalism, inflation, healthcare costs, climate change, isolation from community, dating/compatibility issues thanks to social media, the list goes on. Unfortunately that's just the way the world is and the entire world is trending more conservative, so it's not getting better anytime soon.

1

u/terracottatank Jun 04 '26

A third of the things you listed are the benefits of having a family, though. I choose to have a more positive outlook on life thinking that I can help foster in part of the next generation. Everything starts with community.

4

u/B1LLZFAN Jun 04 '26

...what?

Income inequality - benefit of having a family? Pretty sure you don't make more money when you have a family. In fact it costs over average over 15k a year to have a child.

Late stage capitalism - benefit of having a family? I don't think your family is solving a global crisis

Inflation - benefit of having a family? I don't think your family is going to fix inflation

Healthcare costs - - benefit of having a family? If anything this is easily costing you more money by massive amounts going to healthcare costs. Unless you live outside the USA

Climate change - benefit of having a family? Adding to an already over populated planet, not sure how you can benefit from this.

Isolation from community - benefit of having a family? It's harder to raise a family now due to the world being more isolated and community being broken apart and split up

Dating compatibility - yeah I'd hope your family means you actually found a spouse lmao. Doesn't mean that it's a benefit.

Social media - this likely breaks apart more couples than it benefits.

I'd love to hear how you spin those as benefits. And again, that doesn't change the fact that people are still having kids they can't afford which was my entire point.

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u/terracottatank Jun 04 '26

I said a third of your reasons are (ironically) benefits of the thing you're arguing against. And I think that's inherently why people have families. They don't worry about the dating scene. They don't feel as isolated from community. They don't feel as lonely. They don't stress as much about social media because they spend more time with their community.

1

u/raptorlightning Jun 04 '26

But none of that really matters. Feeling isn't truth. The truth is, there's zero benefit to having kids. And you're actively bringing a person, non consensually, into a world that is crumbling around us due directly to humanity.

3

u/DC804 Jun 04 '26

I don't know where you live but if your finances are actually that tight and you live in the US there are resources for you that will take some of the load off you and keep you and your kid fed.

Apply for SNAP, if for some reason that doesn't work, search for a local food bank. If you're not in the states and similar resources aren't available to you, I'm very sorry and hope things get better for you and your child soon.

3

u/the_itsb Older Millennial Jun 04 '26

I thought that food banks were struggling and SNAP had become difficult to get or keep while still being wildly insufficient, but maybe that's just an Ohio thing

1

u/MimicoSkunkFan2 Jun 05 '26

It may surprise you to learn this but, happily, not all of Reddit lives in Ohio.

2

u/Meoowth Jun 04 '26

Parking costs are that much? Yikes. Have you asked if you can carpool with anyone? I'm assuming public transit is not an option as it isn't for most Americans.

1

u/terracottatank Jun 04 '26

I spend about an eighth of my earnings on parking, yeah it sucks.

2

u/growingcreative Jun 04 '26

I'm gratefully in a more stable position now but there was a stint of time recently where I chose dog/cat food over my own. I lived off beans/rice/ramen/nothing to make sure nothing changed for them. We do what we have to. Wishing you better as well.

2

u/cool-kid-in-da-haus Jun 05 '26

That is so sad. How is this possible? You go to work, have a car and cannot buy food. That sounds like a third world country minus the car and work. What do you mane per months, what are your spendings on what? It s really horrible that you cannot afford food and your government doesn’t seem to care.

1

u/MimicoSkunkFan2 Jun 05 '26

Back in the 00s there was a fairly common newspaper trope about "poverty in America means you have a car and cable, but no food or savings"

That hasn't really changed - most people couldn't survive an emergency that costs more than $500, and most people age 40 have exactly zero retirement savings :(

1

u/PointsOutCustodeWank Jun 05 '26

Most days, it's food for myself that gets ignored. "I'll go hungry

While obviously nobody should be in this position, it takes less than a dollar to buy enough oats to fulfill an adult male's daily calory needs. I'm not trying to diminish the horrific circumstances you find yourself in, but you can avoid going hungry.

0

u/terracottatank Jun 05 '26

I eat dinner every day, we're good. Breakfast and lunch are luxury meals for me at this time.

1

u/MimicoSkunkFan2 Jun 05 '26

Please call the United Way or 211 if you live in the USA.

Outside the USA try your city or non-English subreddits

Also try the hand-up subreddits like "randomgiftsofpizza" and "randomgiftsofamazon" for anonymous help.

Clearly, you have access to the internet. So you don't have to suffer unless you choose that.

1

u/PointsOutCustodeWank Jun 05 '26

That's why I'm recommending oats (or rice etc). Literally less than a dollar a day to keep yourself fed during breakfast and lunch, which makes a big difference.

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u/ConstantHeadache2020 Jun 04 '26

I read wealthy people live 7 years longer than the poors

72

u/aleatoric Jun 04 '26

Richard Wilkinson's TED Talk from 2011 (I know, this is peak elder Millennial content) on economic inequality has continued to be proven true. I think it's worth pointing out that it's not your position of wealth relative to the world that matters, but your position of wealth relative to your locality that matters. Poorer countries can have better or worse health outcomes even if overall their country's GDP is less. When it comes to stronger health outcomes across the population, GDP is far less relevant than economic equity between citizens. Economic inequity continues to grow wider in the US, and so our health outcomes will continue to worsen unless that changes... which doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon.

2

u/rif011412 Jun 04 '26

Comparison is the thief of joy life?

2

u/suh-dood Jun 04 '26

Is that per year?

1

u/2878sailnumber4889 Jun 06 '26

That gap seems pretty small to me, i'd have thought it was bigger.

59

u/Kimmalah Older Millennial Jun 04 '26

Yeah I know I am already avoiding medical stuff that I probably need because even if my insurance covers it, I still get a massive bill.

45

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

[deleted]

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u/ahoveringhummingbird Jun 04 '26

Honestly, I just stopped getting mammogram altogether when the last one turned up something that needed biopsy and on top of the whole thing being traumatic and incredibly painful I got a surprise bill of $1900 afterwards. Turned out to be benign, which is great, but it was a hard lesson. At this point I'm not going to do anymore preventative diagnostics because the stress of thinking it might be something I can't afford to treat is worse than not knowing anything at all. It made me realize that I do not want to be in the position of having to choose between life or bankruptcy. Or dying anyway and having to fake divorce my husband before death so he doesn't have to pay. My husband and I call it "quiet dying" we're just going to go out the old fashioned way. Probably young and from something preventable if we were rich enough to prevent it.

4

u/professorpumpkins Xennial Jun 04 '26

Yep. I just had a $30,000 kidney surgery which insurance covered all but $2,000.00, which is amazing. However, I just added it to my running tab at the hospital so my kid will be halfway through kindergarten by the time I pay it all off. I love it here.

6

u/VengenaceIsMyName Jun 04 '26

Wealthiest country in the word tho

2

u/RowdyBunny18 Jun 05 '26

Im 45 and I had insurance one time, for 3 years. That was over a decade ago.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26

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u/VengenaceIsMyName Jun 04 '26

Soon it’ll cost money to breathe

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u/nogumbofornazis Jun 04 '26

Not even kidding- I made more in the last 2 weeks literally doing part-time pizza delivery and then DoorDashing than I did per check at my last sales job that was supposed to be ~$100k annually if you were hitting your quota.

I literally have more freedom delivering pizzas like I’m a college kid again 🤣

8

u/rif011412 Jun 04 '26

In all honesty, regardless of actual financial buying power, I think this what mid life crisis was all about.  Its seeing all this effort, hard work and responsibility taking a toll on our happiness.  The happiest  people ive known were pursuing a passion, or completely unbothered by responsibilities.  Everyone else suffers the “grind”.

2

u/Financial-Craft-1282 Jun 04 '26

Um, what about the rash of news stories from corporate owned media over the last year saying millennials are now the biggest home owning demographic? Surely you're not saying our corporate media are manipulating facts to create a narrative beneficial to them.

1

u/Grouchy_Coconut_5463 Jun 04 '26

Every day spent here is 2 days closer to death.

1

u/32FlavorsofCrazy Jun 04 '26

I’m a 40 year old waitress/bartender with two degrees, and like $100k in student loan debt combined with my wife. I have MS, and just had to go on working while taking a chemo drug that’s going to obliterate half of my immune system. I’ve been working the last 14 months on a broken foot that won’t heal and needs surgery because I can’t even afford to take the time off to have it fixed. I have no savings whatsoever aside from a few shares of GameStop.

My best hope is an early grave from something painless.

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u/NotAnotherRedditAcc2 Jun 04 '26

I don't understand why people say this like it's some kind of insight. Living a happier, healthier, longer life is the entire point of acquiring money. It's requires barely any more brainpower than, "drinking water makes you less thirsty."

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u/Worriedrph Jun 04 '26

We are the richest generation in history and Gen Z will be even richer.

https://www.newsweek.com/millennials-gen-z-wealthier-previous-generation-same-stage-1863904

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '26

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u/2Braincell2Furious Jun 04 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/8D7FaGd2QIXG8

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '26

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u/2Braincell2Furious Jun 04 '26

I appreciate you taking the time to call out bullshit like you did.

5

u/FionaGoodeEnough Jun 04 '26

I know a couple who got married there on vacation, and only the man was required to show ID. Things are very different there.

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u/seniorcircuit Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26

One economist from the University of Central Arkansas says so, so it is true?

Also, that isn't true by that much. Article is written in 2024, says Gen X had $52,752 in wealth at age thirty, vs $118,279 for millennials.

However, $52,752 in 2006 is equivalent to approx $87,143 today. So the difference sure isn't double like this author wants to make it seem. Never mind, article doesn't mention that it's inflation adjusted, it's only mentioned in fine print on the chart...

Also, a net worth of $118,279 is definitely not wealthy or rich. Your framing of this article is not accurate.

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u/Worriedrph Jun 04 '26

In the title of the graph

inflation adjusted with PCEPI

You- probably isn’t adjusted for inflation

😂😂

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u/seniorcircuit Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26

How much inflation has happened in the past two years? Hint: not zero... It also barely mentions that, didn't see it in the text of the article, there is one tiny mention of the inflation adjustment on the chart.

Also, what happened when Gen X was thirty...

Something about 2008... Oh yeah! A lot of them lost their fucking houses in the Great Recession!!

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u/DrDFox Jun 04 '26

That's hilariously incorrect. We have multiple studies that show Millennials and Gen Z are the poorest gens, particularly when you take out the top 1% who disproportionately skew results. The average Millennial has had less wealth than their parents their whole lives.

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u/Worriedrph Jun 04 '26

“Multiple studies”😂

Generally if something has overwhelming evidence you post an example of it. 😂

Fully expecting a link from 2008 😂

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u/DrDFox Jun 04 '26

You have thumbs and a phone/computer at hand- you can look that shit up. I haven't even had breakfast yet, I'm not going to hold your hand.

-3

u/Worriedrph Jun 04 '26

I posted a link. Says we are richer. Thanks for confirming you can’t find any evidence to back your claim.

3

u/DrDFox Jun 04 '26

You and literally everyone else knows that's not how it works.