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Spending habits of the generations

Following on from our previous article on ‘How to attract the millennials‘, it’s interesting to examine this age cohort’s spending attitudes and behaviours by comparing them to those of other generations; Baby Boomers and Generation X.

Baby Boomers are generally considered to be born after the Second World War up until around the 1960s, Generation X is categorised as being born from the mid-1960s to the end of the 1970s, and Millennials are broadly agreed to be born between the early 1980s to the mid-90s. But how does when we’re born, affect our attitude and behaviour?

The Money Matters Team at Sainsbury’s Bank did some research into this question and came up with some fascinating findings.

From the frugal baby boomers with their “make do and mend” attitude deriving from a war-effort sentiment, the “work hard play hard” attitude of Gen X who grew up in the Thatcher era, to the “treat yourself” generation of millennials who spend most of their time outside of work socialising and eating out. As you can see, there are plenty of differences in the attitudes towards saving and spending between the generations.

Being the first truly digital generation, millennials’ unique life experiences have ultimately changed the way we live, work and consume. For example, this group will spend £44,000 more than baby boomers and £25,000 more than Generation Xers on rent by the time they’re 30. This bleak reality is counteracted by a greater demand for a healthy work-life balance, with 54% spending their disposable income on dining out rather than saving and investing. And lastly, being the least likely to carry cash, card payments are looking to almost double by 2025. As a result, it’s important that businesses understand what this tech-savvy generation look for in their experience with companies.

Have read through of the visual below to read about the rest of the findings.

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