Gen Z Is Earning More Than Millennials: Generation Z is experiencing a stronger start to working life than millennials did, according to new research from the UK’s Resolution Foundation. The independent think tank found that young workers born in the late 1990s and early 2000s are earning higher real wages at the age of 24 than millennials earned at the same stage of their careers. However, researchers caution that the improvement could prove temporary as inflation, geopolitical tensions, and a growing number of young people outside education or employment continue to weigh on the economic outlook.
Gen Z Is Earning More Than Millennials
The Resolution Foundation’s latest analysis shows that workers born in the late 1990s earn 12% more in real weekly pay at age 24 than people born in the late 1980s, who represent the younger end of the millennial generation. Even more notably, individuals born in the early 2000s are earning more at age 24 than any comparable generation dating back to those born in the 1950s.
The findings challenge the widely held belief that Generation Z would continue the pattern of economic stagnation experienced by millennials. While millennials entered the workforce during or immediately after the 2008 global financial crisis, Generation Z has benefited from a tighter labour market and stronger wage growth in recent years.
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Why Millennials Fell Behind?
The report highlights that millennials became the first modern generation in Britain not to enjoy higher disposable incomes than those who came before them.
The Resolution Foundation warns that rising global tensions, particularly conflict in the Middle East, have pushed up energy prices and increased inflationary pressures. As businesses face higher costs and economic growth weakens, real wage growth could begin slowing again later this year, potentially eroding recent gains. The members of Gen Z entered the labor market at one of the weakest times for wage growth in generations, with the financial crisis spurring a decade of weak real pay growth.
The downturn led to a sharp slowdown in real earning growth for much of the 2010s due to factors including weak productivity and sluggish economic recovery.
The strongest engine for Gen Z’s higher wage earnings, according to recent analyses, has been consistent increases in the UK’s National Living Wage and minimum wage rates in recent years. Resolution Foundation analysis shows that the lowest paid (10% group of earners) gained more than any other, with their real wages having grown 36% between 2012 and 2025.
Charlie McCurdy, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said the improved earnings show that concerns about another “lost generation” may have been overstated, but added that the positive trend remains fragile amid growing economic uncertainty.
The UK’s Growing NEET Crisis
While employed members of Generation Z are seeing stronger wages, not every young person is benefiting from the labour market recovery.
The report highlights that around one million people aged 16 to 24 in the UK are currently classified as NEETs: not in employment, education or training. Researchers argue this represents one of the biggest long-term risks facing the generation, warning that without targeted government intervention Britain could face a new “lost generation” excluded from stable careers and economic opportunity.
