Financially, our world has changed a lot over time.
Back when us present-day adults were growing up, the financial landscape of our young adulthood looked very different than it does for kids today.
To that end, we want to use this blog to showcase the reality of being a young person in today’s world, but specifically from a position of expertise here at Explorer Hop – the world of finance.
Note: the statistics that we use in this blog are based on US data, which we feel is appropriate due to the reality that the US sets the foundation for a good part of the rest of the world with respect to finance and the economy.
Higher Education Costs Are Rising
According to 2019 data shared in an article by CNBC, the cost of a college education has risen by greater than 25% when compared to the decade prior. To be specific, in 2008/09, the annual cost to attend a public college was $16,460 (and that number ballooned to $38,720 for a year at a private institution). Meanwhile, 2018/19 data suggested that these costs had increased to $21,730 and $48,510 respectively over the 10-year period.
What this data suggests is that such costs will likely only continue to rise as we progress through the future, pinpointing one large way the reality of being a young person now is much different than being a young person even as recently as 20 years ago.
Living Costs Are Rising
From the price of gasoline to consumer goods and housing, the cost of living rose at its highest rate in a decade a few years back in 2018 according to CBS. Moreover, according to data from a Consumer Price Index inflation calculator, a dollar in 2011 is worth $1.25 in 2022, meaning that “today's prices are 1.25 times higher than average prices since 2011 and a dollar today only buys 80.00% of what it could buy back then”.
Much like the point above about education costs, this means that the general cost of living is significantly higher for young people today than it was even less than decade ago, which may make it harder for today’s young people to support themselves as they grow older. We believe that hard work and financial literacy can help subside some of those concerns, but it is still worth noting how the cost of living has changed for young people growing up in modern times.
Breadth of Earning Opportunities is Growing
To end this blog on a more positive note, one of the great shifts in our world today as it pertains to young people and money is that there are so many more ways to make money in 2022 than there were even as recently as 2012. From the advent of things like TikTok and the boom in social media’s influence on our lives to the increased prevalence of digital selling and job prospects as a direct result of today’s digitized internet world, young people have a lot more doors open to them with respect to earning potential than previous generations have had. No longer are young people trapped or siloed into traditional jobs and earning methods. Instead, the possibilities are endless when it comes to making money as a young person today, and that is one of the greatest things to come out of our society’s evolution.
We apologize if the first parts of this blog were filled with doom and gloom but we hope we redeemed ourselves with the final section on earning potential and did a good job of showcasing what it is like being a young person today.
So now you’ve read this blog and are starting to think that now is as good a time as any to help your child begin their journey towards understanding their financial future. The good news is, we have just the thing to help you accomplish that!
To help put your child on the right financial literacy path, we encourage you to sign your children up for one of our personal finance programs, where we teach children in grades one all the way to grade twelve everything from the basics and history of money to the stock market and global finance.
Our programs are nationally and internationally-renowned for helping children get on a path to superior financial literacy both in the present and in the future, so check out our classes and courses today and sign your child up as soon as possible!