Page 5 - IDEA Studie 06 2023 Generace X a Y

Study 6/2023 What the Data Says about Generations X and Y: When Our Parents Were as Young as We Are2 MAY 2023 EVA PEŇÁZOVÁ, MICHAL ŠOLTÉS Summary • This study presents a unique comparison of the lives of generation Y (millennials, born in 1981–1996) and those of generation X (their parents, born in 1965–1980) at the same age, based on available statistics related to education levels, relationships, and relative earnings. • The data is taken from the 2006 and 2021 rounds of the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) carried out by the Czech Statistical Office. This survey is run on a representative sample of households and the individuals within them annually. The sample years, 2006 and 2021, enable us to compare the situations of generations X and Y at similar ages. At the time of data collection in 2006, representatives of generation X were between the ages of 25 and 40. Representatives of generation Y were between 24 and 39 years old in 2021. • The most marked difference between generations X and Y is in their levels of education. 32% of generation Y have completed a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with just 13% in generation X. In contrast, the percentage of people with professional training has fallen, from 40% in generation X to 23% in generation Y. It is worth noting that the extent of the increase in university education is substantially different across genders: in generation X, the share of university-educated women was the same as the share of university-educated men, at 13%. Among millennials, however, 37% of women have a university education, compared with “only” 27% of men. 2 This study presents the authors’ own views and not the official position of the Czech Academy of Sciences’ Economics Institute nor of the Charles University Centre for Economic Research and Graduate Education (CERGE). Any remaining ambiguities or errors are the authors’ own. We would like to thank Jaromír Kalmus for his advice on the data and Daniel Münich for his comments and suggestions. This study was produced with support from the Czech Academy of Sciences within its AV21 Research programme Society in Motion. 3